Models strode down a dirt track of a catwalk, against the tent-like backdrop.
Against this Fellini-like backdrop, a tense game of diplomatic bluff was being played out on the first floor.
Inside, polished dark and light woods, brick niches and dramatic draped fabrics provide a Zen-like backdrop for minimalist floral arrangements, gentle candlelight and subdued pictures of geometric textile designs.
He arrived on stage in prison gear and actual shackles, delivering a fierce and pointed version of his single "The Blacker the Berry" in front of a jail-like backdrop.
Mr. Matthews sat in dark suit and white shirt in a New York studio, against a presidential-like backdrop of waving American flags, and sounded off like a superenergized ESPN commentator revving up for a bowl game kickoff.
Boating along the Kunene early the next morning, I drift past lush riverside oases where deceptively languid crocodiles and magnificent water birds, including two of southern Africa's rarest -- the rufous-tailed palm thrush and the Cinderella waxbill -- coexist beneath the bleak, Martian-like backdrop.
Set inside the facade of the McKittrick hotel, the production -- put on by British theater company Punchdrunk -- asks audiences to commit themselves to a world vastly outside their own, set in a noir-like backdrop where mystery and intrigue come ahead of clarity and comprehension.
But both "Chroma" and "Human Seasons" are abstract and contemporary in feel, with sculptural, installation-like backdrops, and on Saturday they shared many of the same dancers.
His subjects tend to be young black men in hoodies and jeans, who strike the confident poses of kings and aristocratic dandies against bright and ornate wallpaper-like backdrops.
Other monastic complexes nestle in the valleys, many recalling Star Wars-like backdrops (but do not believe mischievous guides who claim Chewbacca was ever here).
