srd.photo

While I was in college, I bought my first art book, a collection of the works of Maurits Cornelis (M. C.) Escher.

Taken in an alley in Montreal, this image made me think of Escher’s use of stairs to create impossible scenes, as shown in Relativity and Ascending and Descending.

Escher was a master at constructing these perspectives and using them to create the illusion of three or more dimensions on a two-dimensional medium.  This is something that photographers, constrained to creating two-dimensional images, constantly strive for.

I should have paid closer attention to where the stairs and metal platforms in this image lead.

The “looking up” perspective (see my collection of looking up images) has obscured the purpose of the structure, creating a hint of mystery for the viewer.

I’m intrigued – and a little confused – by the doors that open to stairs that then lead up.  This doesn’t seem logical for a fire escape.

Unless it was designed by M. C. Escher.