These are stairways in an out of the way corner at the Antulang Resort, some kilometers south of Dumaguete. I was a guest there at a conference a couple of weeks ago, and brought my camera along.
Antulang is indeed a very large and attractive place; perched on a high bluff above the sea at the southernmost tip of Negros, it has all the requirements for a great resort: wide ocean views from its guest rooms and villas; white sand beaches, shaded walking paths, open air restaurants, a gigantic swimming pool, etc.
I could have photographed any of these features; but then again, who needs to see more pictures of swimming pools and beaches? Thatí¢â‚¬â„¢s for advertising brochures, thatí¢â‚¬â„¢s not what Ií¢â‚¬â„¢m after. It was these strange staircases that caught my eye.
Thereí¢â‚¬â„¢s a weird sense of space here; disorienting. Each set of stairs has its own separate perspective leading the eye away. It almost looks like two pictures combined. It takes effort to see it as an actual viewpoint, a real place. And the character of each set of stairs is different, too — even though theyí¢â‚¬â„¢re in the same place, and made out of the same stone.
Ití¢â‚¬â„¢s like two pathways to different destinies. The stairs seen on the left is dark and cut off from sight by a stained blank wall; ití¢â‚¬â„¢s a path that seems to lead nowhere, or at least nowhere good.
But the stairs on the right is wide and sunlit, and it leads out of the picture in a long sweeping curve. You would certainly expect a happier result from following this path. But you might be wrong.
Ití¢â‚¬â„¢s a common metaphor in song and story, and now, in this picture. You come to diverging stairways, or two paths in the forest, or a fork in the highway. You caní¢â‚¬â„¢t be one person and take both paths; you have to take one or the other, and you caní¢â‚¬â„¢t know for certain where each one will take you, or what the result will be.
And appearances can fool you. Like here, in this picture. What seems to be the better path into the sunlight may turn out badly. The darker stairs may lead to you on to greater happiness. You have to take one or the other. In the end, you go on where you go, by instinct or inertia, and hope for the best.