Gargoyles - Photography Contest [18 entries]

Winning entry, with a score of:

68.4%

Contest goal:

Many religious institutions placed gargoyles around the cornices and spires of their churches. Often viewed as satanic visions their purpose was to scare away spirits that would harm the church. You may have to use a long lens or get up pretty high to photograph them.

Status: finished. Check out the winners below!

Suggested by: PAMendol

friiskiwi: "In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite,[1] with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastic animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is thrown from the wall. When Gothic flying buttresses were used, aqueducts were sometimes cut into the buttress to divert water over the aisle walls." ( 5 years and 2389 days ago )

friiskiwi: Are we looking for true Gargoyles, or will any stone decoration do? ( 5 years and 2389 days ago )

Contest Moderator: We are looking for a gargoyle. A grotesquely carved figure of a human or animal with open mouth, projecting from a building for throwing rain water clear of a building. Carvings on the side of buildings will be classified as Off Theme. ( 5 years and 2388 days ago )

kyricom: While many gargoyles originally were used for water drainage, not all were, both in older times - but especially in more modern times. "The functions of gargoyles were manifold: first of all there was their architectural purpose, which is almost lost today. Only a few gargoyles fulfil that function today. With some examples it is not even sure if water ever issued from the gargoyle's mouth."

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/oxford/gargoyles.html

Gargoyles are pretty recognizable, why are we limiting them to only water spouts? ( 5 years and 2386 days ago )

Contest Moderator: Kyricom, we are not overly concerned if the carved figure was designed for throwing off water, but we are looking for "a grotesquely carved figure of a human or animal with open mouth". Members were posting any form of carving on the side of a building so we needed to clarify the requirement. So we are not limiting them to only water spouts, just not any carving on the side of a building.
I hope that explains it better. ( 5 years and 2386 days ago )

kyricom: Yep... thanks ( 5 years and 2386 days ago )

Artifakts: Moderator, you wrote : "We are looking for a gargoyle. A grotesquely carved figure of a human or animal with open mouth, projecting from a building for throwing rain water clear of a building. Carvings on the side of buildings will be classified as Off Theme" (5days ago), and then you write "So we are not limiting them to only water spouts" (2 days ago) ...

You really need to be more acurate in the writing of contest rules !

If I knew that I would have uploaded different picture. ( 5 years and 2383 days ago )

BeSea: Contest rules are written by the submitter, then it winds up being up to the mods to figure out the exact meaning as the various interpretations come in. In most cases, the submitter never even thinks about all of the questions, problems or complaints that may arise from their suggestion. The lesson is, if you submit, try and be as clear as possible about the rules. ( 5 years and 2383 days ago )

friiskiwi: BeSea, You are a voice of reason in all this madness. ( 5 years and 2382 days ago )

Howdie stranger!
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Dont come any closer! - created by nemark

Favs: 2

SBS: n/a

Hi-res

Rank: 1/18

Score: 68.4% (39)

25568 views

(5 years and 2387 days ago)

12 Comments

Dont, come, any, closer

Amien's Cathedrale Gargoyle - created by Artifakts

Favs: 0

SBS: n/a

Hi-res

Rank: 2/18

Score: 66% (32)

22032 views

(5 years and 2388 days ago)

7 Comments

Amien, Cathedrale, Gargoyle

The Guardian - created by BeSea

Favs: 0

SBS: n/a

Hi-res

Rank: 3/18

Score: 65.4% (26)

20496 views

(5 years and 2389 days ago)

6 Comments

The, Guardian

A Paris - created by nikita61

Favs: 0

SBS: n/a

Hi-res

Rank: 4/18

Score: 65.3% (21)

5612 views

(5 years and 2383 days ago)

8 Comments

Paris

Upview - created by Artifakts

Favs: 0

SBS: n/a

Hi-res

Rank: 5/18

Score: 64.9% (15)

5578 views

(5 years and 2388 days ago)

3 Comments

Upview

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