*Notre Dame du Travail*
Fuji x100F
In July I had the unexpected and unbelievable luck of being able to visit a Parisian church at night. But not just any Parisian church: Notre Dame du Travail (Our Lady of Labour) is a 1902 building designed for working class labourers of the 14th arrondissement (I guess it wasn’t gentrified back then). The structure is Eiffel style, with metallic beams and columns, and it’s just visually stunning.
*Le Soldat Inconnu*
Fuji x100F
Model: Barth
The unknown soldier is another character in my upcoming Parisian RPG, a confused figure stuck between nationalism and plight of the working classes. Barth spent a lot of energy getting hold of the authentic WW1 outfit, and I’m very grateful because the images are stunning.
*Galerie Vero Dodat*
Fuji x100F
The galeries in Paris are covered streets, usually private, all leading towards the Palais Royal which was the commercial hub for high society in the XVIIIth and XIXth century. The architecture in these galleries is striking, as are the interplays of light and darkness. The galerie Vero Dodat was closed when I went on a Sunday, but I shot this through the barriers, and was quite pleased with how it came out.
*La Reine Marguerite (Queen Marguerite)*
Fuji X100F
Model: Nathalie
I’m taking a break from posting Photosynthesis images this week and posting the first digital images I’ve posted in ages. They are all related to an ambitious illustration project for my next role playing game set in Paris. The final images will be film, but I’m honing down the looks with the models, and this image is so cool I could not not share it. I’d already worked with Nathalie on different silhouettes for the same project in January, but here I feel like we’ve nailed it.
*Neon Hotpot*
Fuji X100F
This was an early attempt at neon night photography that I never published. Looking back into it, I quite ilke the photo, especially the way that the light hits the face of the man standing on the left.
*Buffaloes at Dawn*
Fuji X100F
Last week the family went for a three day break in Mui Wo. I of course packed my medium format film cameras and woke up for dawn one morning. The water buffaloes were gathered on the beach, and I took several photos of the heard with my Fuji GW690iii which proved to be spectacular failures due to fogging on the lens. Thankfully I backed these shots with the X100F because it allowed me to get closer. There’s a fair amount of noise, but at least the colours and the scene are preserved.
*Encased*
Fuji x100f
Having taken a photo from the inside of an open courtyard in Vienna (Skywards), I did the same a few days later in Lyon. What I like about this one is that the angles are all a little skewed. It feels less geometric and a little more haphazard.
*Stairwell Contrast*
Fuji x100f
I spent a day in Lyon back in July and walked around the old city despite the brutal heat. What I loved there were these narrow winding passages (called Traboules) that connect the streets with encased courtyards. As we were exploring one of these I saw this little staircase on the side. I loved the way the light hit the top of the stairs…
*Skywards*
Fuji x100f
I’m not sure there’s anything typically Viennese in this vertical view of a building’s inside court. But I really liked the perspective it offered and the geometry of the courtyard itself, the windows and the way the light hits them.
*Gloria in Excelsis Deo*
Fuji x100f
As I think I have said before, I’m not a believer in any faith, but I am fascinated with religion as a social construct and as a photographic subject. One of the things that always (in my mind) represents a tension is the amount of effort and money that has gone (historically) into representing the glory of god. In Western Europe this is mostly true of Catholic churches, but of course it applies equally in other parts of the world and to other religions. Still, as a photographer it’s hard to deny that these displays make for good subjects!
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