I dug this last year film out of the shoebox to practice a bit my scanning
skill. It was shot before I convinced myself that I needed a set of filters.
Now I know better, and wouldn't wash out the sky as I did consistently.
Anyway, I somehow like the mood of thoses pictures, so here they are for your
viewing pleasure, and sharp criticisms. I tried to especially emulate Moose's
techniques of postprocessing on the last 3.
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/m-viet/2005-10/index.html
Nb #1 : [img015] A note on the young girl (Clothilde de Vaux was her name)
bust ; it's perhaps the most undesserved statue ever. But it's conveniently
located Boulevard Beaumarchais (dubbed "the photography street" for the
number of camera shops established there), and I find her story amusing.
Auguste Comte was a great and respected philosopher, still known as "the pope
of positivism" ; a great thinker who inspired a lot of our political ideas,
even today. His philosophy was not far away from the marxism 'historical
materalism', without the 'classes struggle' aspects. Still a bachelor while
already an eminent member of the Institute, he somehow fell in love with the
young lady. Apparently, she wasn't thrilled at the idea, but was not really
in a position she could refuse to wed him. So she managed to differ the thing
and globably made a fool of the old man. And conveniently, as she was on the
frail side, she soon died of a lung disease common in the XIXth century.
That's where the story becomes interesting (because the lady was not very
bright by herself). The old Professor spent the remaining of his days trying
to create a real 'religious' cult of reason, centered around the figure of
Clothilde, promoting her to a deity status. What's even more surprising, is
that the cult still has followers (a handful, really). To see a very bright
intellectual go completely out of his shoes for love is a wonderful sight
indeed...
Nb #2 : [img013] The boat on the Seine is named "Paname" (not sure it shows at
this size). That's slang for Paris.
Nb #3 : [img006 to img009] Most shots were taken less than 5 minutes away from
home. A couple of them were taken along the Canal St Martin, which was a
central spot in the famous "Amélie Poulain" movie. The canal ends near the
"Hôtel du Nord" (also depicted), famous for another, older movie with
Arletty, named after it. Also in the Hôtel du Nord picture, I included a
board reading "Pestacles" ; that's a (childish) misspelling of "spectacle",
which means "a show" in french. I did it because this misspeling is rooted
into a book which title is "Zazie dans le métro" (Zazie takes the subway), by
Raymond Quenaud, famous novel centred around the discovery of Paris by a
young girl.
Nb #4 : [img000, img006] As you see, there are thousands of pigeons in Paris.
Those little critters have a strong tendency to fly right into your picture
to ruin your composition, and they are really on the pest side for a lot of
other reasons. But somehow, I can't manage to hate them completely.
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/m-viet/2005-10/index.html
--
Manuel Viet
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