Geometry, colour & the quiet hours of cities

Hover any photograph to magnify it · click to see it full screenTap any photograph to see it full screen · tap or pinch to zoom

Room 1Colour & Facades

Walls, balconies, a sunset skyline, painted iron and an orange fountain.

Orange wall with hand-painted tile beside a white door

Construction cranes silhouetted against a pink and orange sunset

Rusty chain looped over a blue-painted rail with white balusters

Pigeons bathing and taking off from an orange fountain bowl

Room 2Arches & Frames

Arches that frame a view, and the symmetry of a dome.

Red Fort arch framing trees, tall portrait

Scalloped arch framing a red palace facade

Taj Mahal in fog, framed by a red sandstone arch

Museum of Islamic Art, Doha — dome interior

Room 3After Dark

Night and long exposure.

Arc de Triomphe at night with light trails

Pierced brass lantern casting patterned shadows on paving at night

Doha skyline at night under a purple sky, with palms along the waterfront

Room 4Monochrome

Black & white, and two photographs in selective colour.

Eiffel Tower in black and white, low angle

Eiffel Tower ironwork with red lift cars

Eiffel Tower ironwork in black and white with orange lift cars

Room 5Close Up

Seen whole, then up close: the full frame and a four-times enlargement of the eye, and a toucan in profile. Move over the feather and the magnifier shows every barb.Tap the feather to open it full screen, then pinch in.

Flamingo, detailThe eyeEnlarged 4× · opens full screen

The Painted BillKeel-billed toucan

IndexList of works

20 photographs in six rooms.

01–05	Balcony, in Yellow · No. 7-45 · Cranes at Dusk · Tethered · The Bathers	Room 1 · Colour & Facades
06–09	The Red Arch · Frame within a Frame · Through the Mist · The Dome	Room 2 · Arches & Frames
10–14	Across the Water · Opera, After Hours · Étoile · Shadow Garden · Violet Hour	Room 3 · After Dark
15–17	Ascent · The Red Lift · Lift, in Orange	Room 4 · Monochrome
18–19	Flamingo, with detail · The Painted Bill	Room 5 · Close Up
20	Before the Rain	Room 6 · Open Country

AboutDavid Herrera

I'm a photographer and artist, and I've lived in the Gulf for about 15 years.

Much of my work starts with simply noticing the small, overlooked details that turn any place or moment into a world of its own. Photography, for me, is all about perspective and the interaction of light and matter. It's a way of pausing time, of admiring the detail with which we perceive reality, and of realising how much of it our brain quietly filters out.

Drawing comes from the same curiosity, approached from the other direction. Rather than finding a moment, I let one unfold. Each drawing starts with no intent or design: just three or four foundational lines, which I build out, little by little, into a structure, weighing colour, balance, flow and the use of space as it grows. My first pieces were drawn in pencil, and since 2015 I've drawn on the iPad. You'll find these Figures in the Annex.

If something here stays with you, I'd love to hear from you: [email protected]