«Mascaron is my black mirror», I wanted to title it, but decided the less is better. Do you know what it is?
Canon 350d + 50mm 1.4 | all right reserved
In brief, mascaron is a building's ornament in a shape of faces (usually human, but not necessarily; sometimes angelic, sometimes frightening or chimeric). Initially their function was to frighten away evil spirits from entering the building. Later the concept was adapted to become a purely decorative element, one of the follies. This feature became most wide-spread in XIX century, the Beaux Arts architectural style employed mascarons quite extensively, and Art Nuovo, as well.
So, you may ask, did I pull it off from some XIX century ruines? Nah. Nothing criminal or illegal! Some of my friends just worked in a restoration workshop at the time; this mascaron was declared unsuitable for restoration, and one girl (she is Pro at fine arts, you may have seen her Easter eggs I posted recently) - instantly privatized it to her home... of course, we could not resist the temptation of having a photo session with it.
ps. as a bonus, a nice mascaron I've shot at Novodevitchje cemetary at St.Petersburg. Some things are aging in such a nice way!
This was my entry for the #monomad challenge a while ago, but went unnoticed. Probably it is the speedy temp of our living to blame; or a great amount of entries with good bokeh and slurred plot: twigs, flowers and other intresting and unique stuff. Well, I'm not in a rush; I will bring it on the top of the desk again. Probably it will not be noticed again. The lightest things are the first to reach the seashore, as Roger Zelazny noted in his 'The Isle of Dead' novel.
pps.
A decade ago I obtained tele- lens with purpose of researching and shooting the mascarons at St.Petersburg, and we did created a collection! If I will see a demand, I will happily share them in my future posts.
ha! it seems I just cant stop adding new entries to my post, hehe. next time!