I’m intrigued by suspended clotheslines found on my Journeys, it’s unexpected to see laundry hovering across balconies in chic cites like Lisbon and Porto, my eye is instantly drawn to clotheslines. Havana is another captivating city for photographing clotheslines. Like Christo and his banners of undulating color, clotheslines speak to me in a language not understood by most. I’m enchanted by the color, the movement, the nonchalance of one sharing their personal garments for all to see.

Hanging laundry on a clothesline at one time, was considered a woman’s domestic duty, an intrinsic part of caring for a family.

Intimate articles are hung to dry on wooden fences and ropes – a humdrum daily task in some parts, one is sharing for all to see. Some lines are hastily hung, sloppy style or someone didn’t anticipate how useful the line would become and under estimated the need for a taunt line. A gentle gust is all it takes to bring trousers to life.

On a frigid snowy day, a toddlers pink jacket is frozen solid to the clothesline. Some lines are strictly a matter of convenience, a banister here or a barbed wire fence near your grazing ponies.

Maybe it’s the linear and diagonal patterns that speak to me, abstract figures of dancing clothes.

What do the clotheslines of Havana, Lisbon and Bhutan have in common? They all tell a story. From great painters, who painted clotheslines, laundry in the sun Monet and Gauguin.

There is something intriguing to me. Maybe it’s the nature of a primitive method of drying one’s clothes, although I hang my linen sheets on a suspended line in the summer sun. Temporary art installations, in the Bhutanese snow, they remained frozen on the line – the snow melted the next day, the locals knew the clothes would dry again as the sun shone, why go out in the snow to remove them?

When my fellow Amankora traveler joined me, we practically squealed when we shared our list of ‘must have’ photos while we traversed Bhutan with the Amankora travelers – we both love photos of clotheslines, who knew I would meet a stranger in Bhutan and bond over clotheslines?

The Bhutanese photos on the barbed wire fences are the clothes of the nomads who travel to enjoy the warmth of the flatlands from the highest Himalayan peaks. Trekking with their yaks, ponies and mules, beads, and woven yak wool pashminas – the last photo was sent to me by our dear guide, Sangay, who most likely thought we were both a bit camera crazy – but he has now focused on clotheslines!

A double bonus is a photo of drying clothes and drying chilies!