This picture reminds me of photographs I took in Croatia. The faded colors and old wooden door could have been any one of the shots I took on those cobbled back streets on the banks of the Adriatic Sea. However, this picture merely echoes that old European style because in reality I was a long way from there when I took it.

In late August I travelled to Macau, a former Portuguese colony now very much returned to the Chinese. The city has some echoes of its European history, but to the most part it has expanded to such an extent that it has almost forgotten it’s Portuguese heritage, and perhaps that’s quite deliberate.

However, around the street of the St Lazarus Quarter could be forgiven for thinking you had somehow been transported back to an old European town. From Catholic churches, to grand old schools, there are many fine examples of Portuguese architecture with roots going back to the 16th century when China gave Portugal the right to settle in Macau in exchange for clearing the area of pirates.

Just as when I was in Croatia, I took many pictures of old doorways and windows. There’s something about them that draws me in. Perhaps the invitation to imagine what lies beyond the shutters or wooden doors with their rusted handles and faded paint.

Of course, this picture was never published on 366 Pictures. The shot that became ‘picture of the day’ was one I took that night at a Cabernet show called ‘Taboo.’

It was strange walking around Macau’s St Lazarus Quarter. Anywhere else those rows of old style buildings would have been converted to cafes, restaurants, and boutique shops. However, the Chinese people who come to Macau seem uninterested in its history, and instead flock in huge numbers to the faked historical setting of the Venetian hotel and Casino, built upon land reclaimed from the sea just a handful of years ago.