I was searching for a photo in my files a few weeks ago when I noticed that I had a number of shots that included stairs or steps.
I hadn’t realized that I had been unintentionally gathering photos showing stairs or steps. But there were several dozen photos in my collection, some that I’ve liked and used in galleries on other subjects and some that were rather unimpressive and filed away. But when viewed as a group it was obvious that I had a lot of photos of this subject.
Maybe there was something subliminal that had me shooting photos of stairs. I’ve read that dreams about stairs are linked to progress – moving forward or backward in your waking life, reflecting feelings of failure, fear, falling, challenge or success.
But I think the collection of photos of steps just means I’ve done a lot of climbing when I have my camera.
By the way, do these photos show stairs or steps? The words aren’t necessarily interchangeable and, as a long-time writer who is always searching for the right word to best communicate a thought or concept, I need to be concise. Steps are defined, in this usage, as a support for a foot of a person who is ascending or descending. Stairs, a shortened version of stairwell or staircase, is a vertical construction that allows people to ascend or descend to another level, or a collection of steps.
So these photos show steps. They also show stairs.
For some reason I’ve always considered stairs to be an indoor thing, although the definitions don’t confirm that thinking. For instance, when I see a collection of steps carved into a rocky cliff or rocks used as steps to provide safe navigation on a hillside I don’t call them stairs. I don’t talk about climbing the stairs to the upper level of a trail. I climb the steps.
But I always refer to a spiral staircase as a staircase or stairs, not steps. Maybe it’s because the phrase “spiral staircase” paints such a clear image. It’s not just a linear collection of steps. It’s a work of art.
A fire escape is another example of a staircase or collection of steps with a formal name. I’d never refer to “the staircase hanging from the side of a building,” for instance, or to someone “taking the steps outside the window during an emergency.” It’s a fire escape. It has a specific purpose. When you hear the phrase you can picture what it is.
I guess I photograph steps – or stairs – because the linear repetition and patterns created by the individual steps provide an interesting geometric focal point that links surround objects. The eye is drawn to the pattern and follows the lines.
Maybe all these photos of steps in my files indicate some issues buried deep in my subconscious. Or maybe, to paraphrase Sigmund Freud, a step is just a step.
Credits:
All photographs and text: © Copyright - Pat D. Hemlepp