I am sure that my affection for the staircase arises from the great Hollywood movies with the likes of Bette Davis delivering a famous line from its steps. The staircase was much favoured by directors of the time as a device to convey gravitas to a single line or a scene. 

I am captivated by the way so many architects can convey grace and rhythm to a staircase whereupon it becomes much more than a mere utilitarian feature. I needed to convey the underside of the staircase with the powerful supporting pillar dividing the two. The muted, low contrast and unfamiliar tones of the entire scene was reminiscent of the Mausoleum in Tripoli that I had made a photograph of a year or so before. 

In both cases, they seemed to me to be images from within the context of a dream and as a consequence paradoxically both pleasing and unsettling.