Mestia in winter, Caucasus Mountains, Georgia
Phase One A-Series, IQ3 100MP sensor, 180mm Rodenstock, f11 @ 1/4 second, ISO 50.

Dotted around the medieval village of Mestia in the Caucasus Mountains you’ll find dozens of ancient square towers, with smooth stone sides and capped with a wooden platform and roof. The stories are varied. Some say the tower was a defensive structure and when your enemy came knocking, you’d pour boiling oil or drop large rocks on them from the safety of your perch. The taller the tower, the more devastating your oil and rocks, or so it would seem because soon every well-heeled gentleman was building taller and taller towers in order to impress their neighbours! I guess this is a corollary of Duesenberry’s economic hypothesis, otherwise known as ‘keeping up with the Jones’, but given the towers were built between 800 and 1200, perhaps it was Duesenberry who was inspired by the local Svans.

We arrived late in the day and our hotel looked out over the valley to the village on the other side. The vista was spectacular with towering mountain peaks and a patchwork of farmland under the fresh snow. There is no direct light as the sun was well behind the mountains, but I liked the soft skylight and how you could easily see all the wonderful detail in the buildings.

There are a number of ways this image could be processed, but I have chosen to limit the blacks and produce a soft, pastel rendition. The base colour balance has hints of blue, so the warm yellows and reds stand out more strongly – colour contrast. The towers were often a little pale, so I have added in some colour here and there to even them out, so no one tower is more important than the other. And then by enhancing the red and yellow channels, I’ve picked up the wooden walls of the newer buildings. I like the result because the spots of warm colour lead the eye around the composition, something the paintings of Botticelli have inspired in me.

For me, this is what a travel photograph is all about – something interesting to look at with a great back story as well.