Alhambra, the medieval Moorish palace in Granada, Andalucía starts my architectural tour of Spain. Its influence can't be overstated. Its use of divine symmetry and mathematical spiritualism is astonishing. It led me to do a bit of reading on visual group theory, a subset of abstract algebra, and promptly have my brain exploded. To put it simply, the repeating patterns seen throughout the palace can be symmetrical in up to 17 different ways, meaning, the patterns can be acted upon; rotated, flipped, reflected and otherwise transformed while leaving the structure unchanged. The purpose is to express the underlying order of the universe without resorting to representational images (saints and heroes) that may mislead the viewer into focusing on specific individuals rather than the super structures (or, clockwork) of reality. I can't get enough of this stuff. #portra400 #35mm #madewithkodak #shootfilmmag #the35mmdiary