Category Archives: Photography
most of a chair
This? Oh, just part of a chair.
Part of a chair that’s suspended from a window.
Part of a chair that’s suspended from a window in the usual fashion.
Hardly even worth mentioning, really.
Monreale, Sicily
photographed 1.30.2025
two saints and jesus
Yesterday I posted a photo of ancient Roman tiles on the floor of a villa.
Here’s more tile, this time Byzantine glass mosaics dating from the late 12th and the mid-13th centuries. These mosaics (6,500 m2; 70,000 square feet) cover the interior of the Duomo de Monreale, which is considered to be one of the finest examples of existing Norman architecture. Work on the cathedral was begun in 1174.
Fact check: According to a legend, William II of Sicily fell asleep under a carob tree while hunting in the woods near Monreale. The Holy Virgin appeared to him in dream, suggesting that he should build a church there. After removing the tree, a treasure was found in its roots, whose golden coins were used to finance the construction. It is more likely that the church was part of a plan of large construction in competition with the bishop of Palermo, who had ordered the large Cathedral of Palermo.
Duomo de Monreale
Montreale, Sicily
photographed 1.30.2025
roman candle
A detail of Roman mosaic floors inside the Villa Romana del Casale. The structure dates from the 4th century Common Era and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The tiled floors cover approximately 3,500 square meters (nearly 38,000 square feet) and are remarkably well preserved because the site was flooded and then covered with landslides.
Villa Romana del Casale
near Piazza Armerina, Sicily
photographed 2.3.2025
PS – I love it that Wikipedia gives the Sicilian translation of the place name – Villa Rumana dû Casali. Linguistically, Sicilian is considered an independent language; it evolved directly from Latin rather than from Italian.
the strongest remain
You know your guide and driver are reading the room when they make non-routine stops (without even being asked) – for important things like roadside ruins or newly blossoming almond trees or the light hitting a hillside town in just the right way – so the photographers could pile out and do our things.
near Enna, Sicily
photographed 2.3.2025
palatino
Nights in Cuba were a little disconcerting. The blackouts could (and did) happen all over the place, for random amounts of time. And then there’d be the one place (like you can see here) that was literally the only bright spot on the entire block. It’s just the way of things.
Cienfuegos, Cuba
photographed 11.8.2022
One Day | One Image 