Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

– William Blake

The Tiger is a beauty beyond belief. And together with the lines of this well known poem, they are the first things I associate with the word ”symmetry”. The photo was taken at Nordens Ark, Sweden. Nordens Ark has participated or is currently taking part in re-population projects, to release animals born at the facility into the wild.

Sofia is our host this week, and her theme is Symmetry. She reminds us that symmetry is everywhere – if you look for it. Symmetry is an important composition tool in all kinds of art. Photography, painting, sculpture – and in fact, I believe it is essential for all our senses to reach harmony. Please visit her beautiful blog for more inspiration. Tag your own post Lens-Artists and link to Sofia’s original post!

I will continue to randomly associate and ponder the concept… I realise that naturally there is no such thing as perfect symmetry, but I also thought about how for example religious buildings like churches, mosques and cathedrals meticulously use symmetry for harmony (in the congregation?). Or at least I guess that is one of the reasons for their architectural style.

Naturally doors and windows are often symmetrical – double doors in particular. They are also very popular with tourist photographers. (Thursday Doors?)

Two pictures in harmony with each other – and still so different. I found both in Prague, and to me, the first one represents human efforts to master and to reach Nature’s grandeur. The butterflies have been sorted and set behind glass in an attempt to make the composition symmetrical. A living butterfly is seemingly symmetrical, but the framed, manmade result could never compete with nature itself. I am happy to point out that we have abandoned killing butterflies and piercing them with needles – we photograph them instead.

The church ceiling is interesting in that the painters have used very irregular areas to decorate, but still arrive at a sense of symmetry. Difficult but clever.

Wine barrels in Porto – a special symmetry – maybe not perfect, but nicely done. Just don’t get them rolling…

Water and mirrors invite to beautiful symmetry. Yesterday morning’s outing gave these two – asymmetric symmetry? I believe most of us never get tired of reflections.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet.”

– William Shakespeare

And, I don’t know about you, but somehow I look for – and use – both symmetry and asymmetri in the same image. Why? Maybe the answer is that they need one another to enhance each other.

Last week, John’s challenge gave us a chance to share billboards and signs from around the world and I hope they made you smile just as many times as they did me. Thank you all for a great, smiling week!

Next week, Donna is our host. And to follow Symmetry – we’ll have Asymmetry. Please visit Donna’s site for inspiration! Hope to see you then!