Windows, Burano

This photograph of a wall with some windows on the island of Burano, near Venice, was taken by designer Gordon Andrews while travelling through Italy in the 1950s. Andrews had a great love of texture and photographed many details of walls and other two dimensional surfaces, framing them so as to create interesting abstract compositions. Under the designer’s gaze, this rustic exterior is transformed into a fascinating interplay between shape, texture and tone.

In his 1987 book, Seeing, Andrews wrote:

Each image has a story to tell, and where your mind takes you, and the associations which arise, are very much an individual response. The texture, pattern and colour of the things around me have always been a matter of great personal delight.

The photograph is from the Gordon Andrews design archive, which documents Andrews’ prolific career across a broad range of disciplines, including his interiors for the Australian Pavilion of the Comptoire Suisse trade fair in 1960 and his designs for the New South Wales and the New Zealand Government Tourist Bureaus, in 1961 and 1965 respectively. The archive also contains quite a few remarkable photographs such as this one. A second archive, also assembled by the designer, was acquired by the museum in 1992. It documents Andrews’ designs for Australia’s first decimal currency banknotes.

Two other photographs by Gordon Andrews have been posted previously on Photo of the Day.

Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

Photography by Gordon Andrews, Powerhouse Museum Collection: 89/735-13/9
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Tags: Burano, doorways, Italy, photography, walls