The Oracle

Going through the oldest parts of my devlist, I was surprised that I had never commented or faved this picture, although I knew I had left it on my list because of its appeal.
The 'old' look of the photo combines well with the age of the temples and reminds me personally of some of the vintage books that I used when I was doing archaeology in university. So, as in other work by Ersi, the texture is a tasteful, effective choice.
The standard pictures of Delfi all include the familiar sight of the round temple and the imposing natural background, but Ersi was so original to go for detail - which is often the difference between photographers casually taking pictures of buildings and photographers who are really aware of architecture. The first thing to look at when deciding about the style of a classic temple is the top end of the pillars, the capital, and that's what shown here, revealing that this is a Doric temple, the most severe and ancient style. The most striking element is the white pillar drum below the capital. This is a modern restoration, which that could be taken as a minor mistake as a choice for attention (partly corrected by the use of the texture) but with some benevolence, you could also say that it refers to the immaculate idea of the architecture that was inside of the architect's head.
The composition isn't formal, the pillars only hint at the 1/3 and 2/3 verticals, but while this was a building of classical formality, it's now a ruin that suffered from time and earthquakes, and the non-obvious composition goes well with the essence of the building and the place as it is now, and avoids the danger of boredom. Here too, like with the choice of texture, form and content are in harmony.

Often well-known places like Delfi can be disappointing but I felt much the same about it as Ersi when I visited. Delfi is a place of both myth and history, having a spiritual impact even on modern people, and this picture clearly does it justice.

_{Deleted and reposted by request for the artist, because of technical difficulty; also some minor corrections. Apologies for anyone who rated this critique before!}