Pere Lachaise

 I have been lucky enough to visit Paris many many times over the years, the first time being in 1972 when I was only around 9 years old. It has been a city that I felt drawn back to and where I have always found something new to keep my interest alive.

One of the places I had wanted to see was the Pere Lachaise cemetery but until a trip in 2023 I had never really had the opportunity to do so. I knew it was the resting place of many famous people and this draws many tourists to visit and when you go in you are handed a map showing where many celebrities from the worlds of literature, philosophy, music, art and fashion are buried. While I was curious to a certain degree to see the final resting places for some of these famous people I was more interested in the scale of the cemetery and the air of calm in the heart of a city. It was like a small town with streets and alleyways, paved and marked with street signs. There was birdsong and squirrels, the colours and scents of autumn and rather than hunt for famous graves I looked at the memorials for ordinary people and reflected on what their lives might have been like. I didn't photograph Jim Morrison's grave or Oscar Wilde's, or Edith Piaf's but I reflected on the other 70,000 people whose life journey had ended here.

I shot these images in black and white because on a bright autumn day the colours didn't really suit the atmosphere I wanted to convey. This is a calm but sombre place and where I have used colour it is to highlight detail in some of the crypts that were open or damaged in some way.

I am glad that I finally got the chance to visit the cemetery and in some ways I am glad that it took me so long to get there. Perhaps, had I gone when I was younger I may have been drawn more to the celebrity graves rather than being able to appreciate the serenity and beauty of the place. I won't say any more about the individual images but hope as you look at them you will get a sense of what I mean and how I felt. If you feel so inclined why not leave a comment. 

Well Well Well!

Here are a few more shots form the Chateau at Haut Koenigsbourg.

The first shot shows an ornate well in a courtyard hidden away at the top of the castle. The second shot shows the detail of the ornamentation on top of the well. It is a French infantryman, he is looking down on the courtyard with a bit of a sour expression, perhaps because he feels a bit foolish stood on a pineapple.

The final shot is a view from a tower looking along the top of the curtain wall and across the wide expanse of the Haut Rhin region of Alsace towards the border with Germany. It looks like the land is quite flat in the distance but in fact there are gentle hills and slopes which are home to the many vineyards and orchards the produce the regions famous wines and Eaux de Vie.

Capital Sculpture

In May 2011 I had to go down to London for a couple of days for work.  I took my camera of course and went for a walk around the city taking pictures of some of the usual sites but also some more random and less obvious things, like for example the statues shown above which were in some out of the way spots.  

I had intended to show all monochrome images today but the dragons in the third picture definitely work better in colour with the rich red and gold.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

One man and his dog

As promised yesterday I have included a little bit of colour in my post today.  I can't completely get away from the black and white vibe though and I really like the second image with all of the birds flying around.

I have included the first shot because I was impressed by the helipad and although I am not entirely sure what purpose this ship serves but I think it might be something to do with servicing the oil and gas rigs out in Liverpool bay and the Irish Sea.  I have made a graduated adjustment to the exposure to highlight the clouds behind the bright colours of the ship's hull.

The man and his dog struck me a quite light hearted given how dull and grey everything else around it was.  He stands on top of what I think was once a pub, looking out towards the docks.  I thought it was a nice thing to share...