The Harmonies of Lines and Light

Lean close and I will whisper to you a secret: I am a closet architecture enthusiast. While most of what I post on blip is nature shots and pictures of our tabbycat Dexter, I also spend a fair amount of time photographing the exteriors and interiors of some of my favorite buildings, mostly those on the Penn State campus at University Park, PA.

The Katz law school building, next to the Arboretum, is one of my favorite buildings to photograph. It's no great shakes from the outside, but inside, it is amazing: all angles, lines, and light. The library on the second floor is an especially favorite spot.

It is a well organized space, and its beautiful symmetry gives me hope that order may in fact be possible in this Universe. When I am there, I am happy. I am focused. I am calm. And I am almost always shooting in black and white because what I want to capture are the shapes, the angles, the lines, the light.

I've blipped this place twice before, both times posting shots of the long ramp lined with neat study carrels along the big windows facing the Arboretum. My March 6 blip was a photo looking back down the ramp. My April 18 blip was a photo looking up the ramp, shot from a stairwell above.

On this particular morning, I walked up the ramp and around the corner to discover a well organized space above, just perfect for studying. On the right is the big row of windows that you saw in the other two shots. On the left are rows and rows of bookshelves. And in the middle, there is a long stretch of tables lined by lamps and chairs.

I like how everything lines up neatly, lines mirroring lines, and I love the way the light inhabits this space. The harmony of it almost sings to me; it makes me feel peaceful and quiets my soul.

The song for this photo is not about architecture, or space, or anything like that. So in some ways, it's completely unrelated. But I picked it because it demonstrates the power and beauty of harmony. I saw The Eagles in October 2010 at Penn State, and they put on one of the best concerts I've ever seen in my life. They opened with this song, and it was so beautiful, I could have cried. Just a couple of guys, standing around some microphones, putting their voices together like instruments. Straight lines, woven together, moving, mirroring each other, creating patterns and order and symmetry.

Their sound was perfect and clear, their voices true and strong, the harmonies spot on. They have actually gotten BETTER as they've aged. So here is the song, with its wonderful harmonies that make me happy the way the lines of this space do: The Eagles, Seven Bridges Road.