I was out with my camera at Schleissheim Palace (early 18th century), not too far outside of Munich, looking for shots of the interior, and not so much detail as the spacial feeling. I tried to imagine living in these gigantic rooms. They were probably terribly cold and drafty in the winter, but in the summer they couldn’t have been that cosy, either. Perhaps only in your bed with the curtains drawn did you have a feeling of privacy. These extravagant palaces are certanly not my idea of luxury.
Trying to include as much as possible in the frame, I was shooting with a very wide angle lens. This also captures a lot of ceiling, usually a blank and boring surface in modern interiors. I then realized that here the ceiling was an essential element in the total design, sort of putting a lid on the space.
Here are a few more shots of Schleissheim – and its ceilings.
