Of the choir at St. Denis - Pevsner says

"Whoever designed the choir at St Denis, one can safely say, invented the Gothic style...the pointed arch, the flying buttress, and the rib-vault....What was decisively new....was the combination of these motifs for a new aesthetic purpose."

(Pevsner, An Outline of European Architecture, Penquin, London 1943)

This photograph not only captures the white hot act of Gothic but also a singular moment in the development of my understanding of architecture, and I spent several hours in the choir and ambulatory at St. Denis trying to take it all in. This photograph is simultaneous evidence of what stood in front of the camera and the person standing behind it - after setting off the remote.

It raises the question as to the meaning of the photograph. Is the photography simply a photo of the vaulting? Its meaning to me is entirely different to its meaning to another observer. What is the story behind the person with the bag? What does the hand represent? Is it carefully protecting that which it has captured within? Photographs become powerful when they exist beyond the frame.

The photograph not only captures a view of architecture that is significant, but also the moment the photographer inhabits it. I went to St. Denis to witness the birth of Gothic architecture, but the photograph also preserves the birth of something in me - a new way of understanding architecture.

This photograph also marked the moment of my first 'chelfie' - church selfie. Since then I have taken numerous chelfie's all over these isles to mark my presence within hallowed walls.

My most recent chelfie - in the box pews at St. Bigail's, Anglesey

Choose Your Photo

Readers of the Genius Loci Digest

What stays with readers

That aura, those echoes - the muted light is transporting. What a space to feel rooted in history. I'd love to make that journey myself; you've stirred the opera lover and architectural dreamer in me.

@sonatasips via X
The vaulted nave of York Minster glowing with filtered light
York Minster - light through the nave01 / 04

From the heritage portfolio

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