[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 22 October 2020].
emanations
[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 September 2020].
my cross to bear
[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 September 2020].
in safe hands
[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 8 September 2020].
annunciation
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 8 August 2020].
This is another image from a new series I'm tentatively titling stained glass.
The first image I shared, in case you missed it, is pietà, interrupted.
It may seem like a straightforward, perhaps bland, title for a series of photographs of stained glass windows but - like many of the images themselves - it's actually more layered.
Although the central subjects of the images are, unsurprisingly, stained glass windows, many of the photos from the series also make the glass appear 'stained' by the outside world:
the sky and/or trees may be visible through or reflected in the stained glass
adjacent mausoleums may be visible through the stained glass
the view of the stained glass might be obscured by elements of and in the mausoleum
parts of the glass might be missing or damaged
I'm not generally one for explaining my image or series titles. I often prefer a certain level of ambiguity and to see if the viewer 'gets my drift'.
I love words and language, especially puns, double entendre and euphemism, as you may have noticed. But sometimes I feel simple titles convey more than you might initially realise.
I'd be interested to know what you think about the series title. Do you think it's:
Deceptively simplistic and too bland?
Works when you know my thought process?
Do you think you would have related the title to my thoughts above based on the two images from the series I've shared so far?
pietà, interrupted
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 July 2020].
Almost exactly nine years ago, I finally had the opportunity to visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery. I was in Paris to meet my friend Victoria.
As you might have read in the encrypted instalment of my postcards from another's life series, I've been somewhat obsessed with cemeteries, graveyards, churchyards and such from a young age.
So when Victoria offered me the opportunity to meet her in Paris, I jumped at the chance, knowing she would be up for visiting the cemetery. And it did not disappoint.
We only spent a few hours there. I felt we like barely scratched the surface (we didn't even visit Jim Morrison's grave). But it was wonderful.
We visited the final resting place of Oscar Wilde - before they cleaned the lipstick off and created a barrier to stop people kissing it - and some other celebrities from the ages.
But most of our wanderings were among the graves of those less known.
I found patterns forming in my photos as we wandered; some definite series forming.
Despite visiting the cemetery on 17 July 2011, I only edited one photo on my return. I edited others in 2014 that haven't yet been posted online.
This photograph I edited tonight.
It fits with a series that formed during my visit. I hope to share more of the images from that series in the coming weeks.
I'll be sharing a post (hopefully within a week!) about my thoughts on the 100 Day Project I just finished. But I don't want to lose momentum on sharing work.
Compared to the time it took to create a digital collage each day for one hundred days editing photos is a walk in the park. And I have so many of them to share!
Not every photo I post will come with so much rambling, but I hope you enjoy them!
le marais
now playing: poison - nothin' but a good time
parmentier
now playing: augie march - baron of sentiment
work is the curse of the drinking classes
I returned to London today after spending a few days in Paris with Victoria, a friend from Australia who was in my hemisphere all too briefly, and who invited me to join her in Paris in an apartment overlooking Parmentier Metropolitain station.
We spent about 2.5 days together wandering around Paris. Our first stop, on our first afternoon there, being Pere Lachaise cemetery. Though I’ve been to Paris twice before: the first time with my family on a ‘round the world’ holiday in 1991/92; the second on a ‘team-building’ day out with my work colleagues in 2001, I hadn't yet had a chance to visit this icon of cemeteries.
My obsession with cemeteries began only a few short weeks after my first visit to Paris. My family and I went on a tour of one of the major cemeteries in New Orleans and I fell in love. I would have to hunt through records to confirm 100% which cemetery it was, but it was majestic, full of mausoleums (above ground burial is compulsory in New Orleans because of the swampland) and full of history.
On my second visit to Paris, with co-workers, I didn't feel comfortable asking if we could wander amongst the dead so I could take photos, though we did wander freely through Pigalle (admittedly in the ‘downtime’ of daylight hours).
So when Victoria sent me details of the apartment she had booked, the home of an American musician who was back home on holidays, and I saw it was near Pere Lachaise Cemetery, I was pleased to find she was as keen as I was to visit this fantastic cemetery.
Visiting there during intermittent rain on Sunday afternoon, we wandered amongst the elaborate mausoleums and statues and even met a ‘local’, a lovely man with the surname Papillon who was visiting his late wife and showed us her grave.
We both managed to get numerous photographs of various resting places in the cemetery and we decided to forgo visiting Jim Morrison, but dropped in to see Oscar Wilde on our way out.
The few days we spent in Paris were really enjoyable: wandering around the city without getting too caught up in the tourist fray. Apart from Pere Lachaise Cemetery, the closest we got to tourist spots was Montmartre's Place du Tertre and Basilique du Sacre Coeur, both of which I'd visited before.
I found the Metro quite easy to navigate (especially with the assistance of an app on my iPhone), and actually felt much less daunted by the city than I expected, even with my limited knowledge of the French language (I recognise far more words in written form than I would ever understand spoken to me!)
One of the highlights of our trip was totally fortuitous: we had bypassed a cafe in the Marais area after quailing at the sight of the line for the free Impressionist exhibition at Hotel de Ville, and stumbled into Le Pick-Clops, a cafe down a side street, to grab a hot chocolate and a tea out of the rain, on Tuesday. Speaking broken French to the waitress, I was embarrassed to realise she was actually American, but she was very helpful with suggestions of places to while away our rainy day, including Jeu de Paume where we were exposed to the self-portraiture of Claude Cahun.
The only downside to the trip is the amount of weight I may have put back on from indulging in copious amounts of cheese and bread and wine. Even with all that walking, I possibly overdid it!
now playing: the dead milkmen - beach party vietnam