Adventures thru the Lens - Sharing Ideas through Images

Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte

One of my favourite French histories is that of Nicolas Fouquet. Fouquet was born in Paris to a family of nobles on January 27th 1615. His father being a judge of high standing, the young Fouquet quickly followed in his fathers foorsteps entering the Paris Parliament as an avocat at the age of thirteen.

Cardinal Mazarin, God father to Louis XIV took charge of the young Fouquet and mentored him well.

And by 1653 Fouquet was awarded the position of Superintendant of Finances.

He did his job well, and gained the respect of many of his seniors for his ability to make successful and very lucrative transactions for the king. He amassed enormous wealth himself, and in 1658 decided to build a chateau that would be one of the most influential buildings of the 17th century. He brought together three of the greatest artists to work on his chateau, the architect Louis le Vau, the artist Charles le Brun and the creator of the French garden we know today André le Notre. It took more than three years and five thousand workers to complete the masterpiece we have to day. It was rather foolhardy therefore of Fouquet to invite the man who paid his wages to the most lavish banquet ever seen outside of the royal court. There were thousands of candles lighting the magnificent gardens, lottery tickets and prizes for everyone, fireworks, Moliere performed a play written especially for the occasion and they dined with solid gold cutlery to a gastronomic delight served by the famous Vatel. This vexed the king so much he had Fouquet arrested two weeks later on charges of corruption. The case lasted three years and without clear evidence Fouquet was found guilty of the charges.

It wasn't long before the twentytwo year old king employed the services of the same artists that Fouquet had employed to create the masterpiece we have today at Versailles, while Fouquet languished in a royal prison until his death. Louis XIV was not content with the decision of the court to banish Fouquet from France, he insisted that he spend the rest of his life in prison. It is the only time in French history that a King has over ruled a decision made by the courts.

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Through a Lens Darkly, the Statue of Liberty

Lately I've been experimenting with photographing through a telescope. Up until now, it's mostly just been trial and error. Simply transporting the telescope to an area where I want to photograph is the first step. Secondly, I have to attach my camera to the scope and find a steady surface to balance the telescope on. But it's looking through the scope and getting focused on an object that is probably the hardest part of it all. You see, it's a very long telescope and therefore the slightest movement on my part results in a significant movement through the viewfinder--just staying trained on one object and keeping it centered requires a steady hand and smooth breathing. Plus, it's very dim when looking through it and getting an object in perfect focus is very difficult.

A few weeks ago, New York City had a snowstorm. I wondered what the Statue of Liberty would look like through the blizzard. So I went down to the southern tip of Manhattan and got aboard the Staten Island Ferry, which is the best (and cheapest) way of getting an up-close view of the iconic statue. But all those difficulties I mentioned about holding the telescope still? Well, you can multiply them by about 20 times when you're on board a ship in the New York harbor. The constant up-and-down heaving of the ferry as it hit the waves made it hard to stay centered on the statue, and it gave me a little bit of a seasick feeling as well. But I came away with this image of the statue. I think this picture works on its own, mainly due to its simplicity and its understanded tones and colors. But I think this picture works on another level because it was taken on January 19, 2008, the very last day of the presidency of George W. Bush. Now, like the man or dislike him, I think one has to appreciate the peaceful transition of power in America. Yet just because we have a new president who is very popular and who has given the nation a boost of optimism and renewal, it doesn't mean that our future is certain.

London Flags... Brighten Any Day

London is often referred to as a grey city. Nothing is more untrue than that... It is possibly annoying that you have to be prepared for all the seasons when you leave the house in the morning... but that doesn't mean you will have a grey day... at all...

 

Anyway, it is a place full of movement and colour... Millions of people work and commute in every day to the city... and in that tidal movement the opportunities to get a good shoot are endless... You just have to sit down and wait for it or if you are not the waiting type just go out there and shoot...

In this case I just set out to get some flags... and you know what? I got some...

Paris - A Stroll thru Passy

Just before Christmas I went walking with my son who as all kids can't seem to feel when it is minus a gazillion. We did not have a specific destination in mind so we just headed towards the Eiffel Tower from the Ecole Militaire where we live. The sky was a little iffy but there was no going back. Don't you just love the way the tops of the trees are cut so they all match. So French!

We passed the tower at which point I said "ready to go back yet, its bloody freezing" -  "No" came the short answer and whose going to argue with an overactive 13 years old with cabin fever.

We headed towards the Australian Embassy's housing project and over the Bir Hakeim bridge, which has a wonderful memorial statue pointing towards the Eiffel Tower. Even though the light was flat I could not pass up the chance for a photo.

  

Onward and up ward past the steps next to the Passy Metro entrance which I always love to walk because it give me the feeling of Paris of the 20s and 30s.

And then looking back along the overground train tracks towards the 15th on metro line 6.

Alright then.  Time to move on. Its not getting any warmer or brighter.  We walk along the main hight street of Bourgeois Passy where the rich "old money French" live and shop toward Metro Muette where there is a bar.nightclub that is supposed to be the number one night spot in Paris where they converted an old railway station into a restaurant. Its quite cool really. Architecturally,the high street its not that interesting except I do like the old covered food market, the Marche de Passy. If anyone knows when it was built I would be interested to know.

 

We arrive at the metro and from here one can walk to the park and the Marmottan Museum to see the Monet collection.  We didn't do that. About half way is a fabulous statue of Jean de la Fontaine so we decided to pay tribute and my son recited one of his famous poems Le Loup et l'Agneau. The light was so flat its not worth showing a photo.

Time to head back, finally. We started with a very expensive hot chocolate at an Art Deco brasserie La Rotonde where all the local rich kids hang out , Bah Oui!

- walk down the hill and back across the bridge.

and under the Eiffel Tower and past te Coney Isalnd Ice Cream stand where so many photographers take photos of the Eiffel Tower from.

Back under the Eiffel Tower and still thousands of people queing up to take the elevator up to the first floor.

 

Home Sweet Home.