After yesterdays photo, a bit of further exploration in the Al-Andalus Caliphate great mosque to show you the 960-970AD Mirhab – the indentation that marks the direction of Mecca (but here a small room pointing south), the focal point of the original complex. Gold tesserae create a dazzling combination of dark blues, reddish browns, yellows, and golds that form intricate calligraphic bands and vegetal motifs that adorn the arch, which is crowned by a gilded, heavenly dome.
This was quite a fun one to capture and process – the Mihrab is nowadays protected by a metallic grid that doesn’t allow public access to this closer PoV, but only to a more direct and slightly distant view of the arched door and a lesser, truncated view of the dome. So you would find me on the floor, in the midst of a considerable crowd, avoiding the feet of the selfie-stickers while putting my faithful a6000 through the grid, then using its tilted screen and all my arms length to get in a sequence of hopefully decent shots (the sparse lighting and glares were not helping) which were composed to bring you the final processed image you see here.
Only while indulging in the pleasures of fine processing was I able to really feel the powerful and delicate artistic work here – it retains its punch after a thousand years. This is one of the few places in the mosque where the Quranic inscriptions remain, and indeed as the mosaic inscriptions in Kufic characters read: “Praise be to God, who has guided us to this, never could we have found guidance had it not be for God’s guidance”!
via 500px http://bit.ly/1UflrGf
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