DOORS DOORS DOORS

"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of."Ogden Nash

What about them??
A door is a movable barrier used to cover an opening. Doors are nearly universal in buildings of all kinds, allowing passage between the inside and outside, and between internal rooms. When open, they admit ventilation and light.
Doors also have an aesthetic role in creating an impression of what lies beyond. Doors are often symbolically endowed with ritual purposes, and the guarding or receiving of the keys to a door, or being granted access to a door can have special significance. Similarly, doors and doorways frequently appear in metaphorical or allegorical situations, literature and the arts, often as a portent of change.

Etymology

Middle English, merger of Old English. dor (neut.; pl. doru) "large door, gate," and Old English duru (fem., pl. dura "door, gate, wicket"), both from Proto Germanic. *dur-, from ProtoIndoEuropean *dhwer-/*dhwor- "a doorway, a door, a gate" (cf. Greek. thura, Latin. foris, Gaulish. doro "mouth," Gothic. dauro "gate," Sanskrit. dvárah "door, gate," Old.Persian. duvara- "door," Old.Prussian. dwaris "gate," Russian. dver' "a door"). The base form is frequently in dual or plural, leading to speculation that houses of the original Indo-Europeans had doors with two swinging halves.


Famous doors along history and trivia

The earliest records are those represented in the paintings of the Egyptian tombs.
The ancient Greek and Roman doors were either single doors, double doors, sliding doors or folding doors
The doors of the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem (6th century) are covered with plates of bronze, cut out in patterns.
Heron of Alexandria created the earliest known automatic door in the 1st century AD during the era of Roman Egypt. The first foot-sensor-activated automatic door was made in China during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui (r. 604–618), who had one installed for his royal library. The first automatic gate operators were later created in 1206 by the Arabic inventor, Al-Jazari.
in France the metal work of the doors of Notre Dame at Paris is perhaps the most beautiful in execution, whereas in Italy, the most celebrated doors are those of the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)
The doors of the mosques in Cairo were of two kinds; those which, externally, were cased with sheets of bronze or iron, cut out in decorative patterns, and incised or inlaid, with bosses in relief; and those in wood, which were framed with interlaced designs of the square and diamond, this latter description of work being Coptic in its origin.
The oldest door in England can be found in Westminster Abbey and dates from 1050.
More real and metaphorical doors would be as follow :
The Portal to Narnia, The Columbus Door, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salons and surely, Number 10 Downing Street

Some Door quotes too -

“Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.” George Bernard Shaw
“How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on” Common Knowledge
“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's revolving door.” Albert Camus

And yet...
There can be many reasons - You may wonder ! - as to why one would be photographing doors. Whether it be wondering what lies behind, out of curiosity, or just because of the particular beauty of the door itself, as a subject. The point here was no more and no less than this and I must say it's really interesting to see there can be so many different takes and interpretations on the subject out there...

So there, this is how it started :



And your views...























As expected, the submissions are wonderful and - as someone suggested, they could make for a really beautiful book; I can't speak for Cy and J., but for me, selecting just one image has been next to impossible; however, here are our (extremely subjective) preferences:



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THANK YOU ALL, CONSPIRATORS AND SUPPORTERS!! I HOPE YOU HAD AS MUCH FUN AS WE DID, AND YOU'LL JOIN US AGAIN ON OTHER FUTURE VISUAL ADVENTURES