Enter the Porphyrophile Dimension

Glasgow, 2025

There are two events that keep me from publishing a photograph or work of digital art: First, it has to keep drawing me back to it, like I can't get it out of my mind. And second, I have to find some poem or quote that captures the essence or feeling the image invokes in me.

Sometimes, I'll look at an image a dozen or more times, over the course of as many days or even weeks, only to decide it doesn't consume me as I had originally thought. Sometimes, I'll decide that it does, but then I won't be able to find the right quote or poem to go with it. I can't say why I feel the need to have some saying--that is not mine originally--to go with an image. Perhaps I lack the confidence in my own ability to articulate the feeling an image leaves in me.

Anyway, this one came about pretty quickly. This final image intrigues me, just as the original sight did. I saw this as I was exploring Glasgow. A structure, or maybe a sculpture, attached to the side of a parking garage. With some color and distortion, this is what emerged. It speaks to me of a journey, nature surviving mankind's interference, entering a new dimension.

As I began my search for a quote or poem, I learned the word Porphyrophile--a person with an extreme love, admiration, or obsession for the color purple. It derives from the Greek porphyra, or purple, and phile, or lover, and is used to describe those who are drawn to the color's association with royalty, creativity, luxury, and mystery. Thank you AI for this.

I would not consider myself a porphyrophile as such. Purple is nice, but I don't consider myself either in love with, admiring of, or obsessed with it. But . . . when you consider that the use of purple in art adds depth or dimension to a landscape, then I have to look at this image in a completely new way. Is this a path through a garden, or through a maze? Are there trees or bars blocking, or leading, the way? Are there walls or columns providing security, structure, or disruption? Is the corner on the outside or inside of a building? Is there a window looking out or looking in? Is purple the beginning or the end? What is on the other side, or at the end of the path? Is there some sort of portal in Glasgow (ooh, wouldn't that be fun)?

I think this image needs more consideration, perhaps even some analysis into what my brain was perceiving as it unfolded. What does this image make you think of?