Friday, June 01, 2012

Well...

To anyone who follows my work, seeing a "straight" photograph must come as something of a surprise.

I tend to work in textures and pulled/pushed colors.  My static objects tend to be heavily re-worked to express a time and place that never existed.  My people photos tend to also be heavily worked to move a scene in directions that, hopefully, express what I feel.  In nearly all cases, seldom, if ever, do I make a solitary image.  I prefer to work larger projects where a common theme, look and feel can be expressed.

So, you can imagine my own surprise when I stumbled across an image I made in the Passy Cemetery.  Just the one image.  Nothing else.

Passy is a wonderful place to live.  It's in the 16th arrondisement in Paris, France.  It's people are completely and utterly Parisians.  They are quiet, reserved, and, in many cases, rather well to do.  I sometimes feel more than a little out of place.  Afterall, I'm not much more than a retired software engineering manager of modest means.

Passy's markets are as up-scale as their clientele.  The bread here is incredible.  The cheeses... words escape me.  The tartelettes are scrumptious.  The chickens, sheep, beef, and pigs are over the top tasty.  The fruits and vegetables are fresh.  Meals around are apartment are generally accompanied with moans and squeals that come from the pleasure of eating fabulous food.

There is also a small art filled cemetery here.  In fact, it sits on the Trocadero.  Due to the high walls, it sits up and over the place where it can collect the light breezes that sometimes waft their way over the city.  Many people don't even know this place exists, such is their intent on seeing la tour Eiffel sitting off in the opposite direction.

One day, my wife wanted to sun a bit and I was looking to make a few images.

The mid-day sun can be difficult to contend with, photographically.  Yet the shade side of the crypts can be wonderful to work near.  The reason is that shadows are filled with light reflecting off near-by light-colored stone crypts.

Working the image back at the apartment I quickly realized that a light touch was all that the image needed.  A little burning.  A little color space manipulation.  A little contrast control.  Et voila!


Passy Cemetery

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