“Woman and Cathedral Columns” — A woman walks past immense columns at the St. Pierre Cathedral, Montpellier.
Montpellier’s huge St. Pierre Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier) is a historic Catholic Church in gothic style that was established almost 750 years ago. The south facade features a high exterior arch supported by these two gigantic round columns and topped with very pointed roof caps.
Such churches often seem to be found in the centers of historic districts cities like this, but in Montpellier it is a bit off to the side. When we visited there few people were walking near the cathedral, aside from a few passers-by and a couple of people entering the church. (We did not go inside since it wasn’t open for visits.) I photographed this woman walking past the base of one of the columns.
This is riveting, Dan. The difference in magnitude between the solitary figure against the column, the muted tones that still deliver depth, and the graduated vertical play of light combine to create an engaging and beautiful image.
“Weathered Street Art” — The weathered and worn figure of a man, on a wall in Montpellier, France.
There is a fine line when photographing things like this between appropriation of someone else’s creative work and making the image because the placement and weathering themselves provide independent visual interest. In short, I’m not big on simply photographing what other people create, but I do seek out and photograph things like this bit of weathered street art found on a wall in Montpelllier, France.
I suspect that it has or had some meaning or message that isn’t apparent to me — either because I lack the cultural context to see it or because it has been weathered to the point where it is no longer apparent. For me, that weathering itself is part of the attraction. In this case, the bits that remain suggest something like a genie emerging from a bottle.
“Woman in Red” — A woman in red pauses to look at a shop window in Paris.
I thought of calling this “Paris Style” or similar, but to be honest, in many ways Paris style isn’t all that much different from what we see in other cities… and that title might just be falling for a common stereotype. (Note the red beret, for example.) Nonetheless, this rather stylish woman caught my attention, in her striking red outfit.
It was a very cold day in Paris, and we were out for a lengthy walk back in early December. I think that I made the photograph in or close to Le Marais, the well-known central Paris district with the narrow old streets — in contrast to typically more modern streets elsewhere.
“Woman and Delicatessen” — A woman walks past the Marianne delicatessen, Paris.
This photograph comes from one of our long walks during our early-December visit to Paris. We have been to Paris before, but always in the summer. The winter (technically, very late fall) visit felt quite different. There are still tourists — like us! — but in far lower numbers. But the biggest difference is that instead of the usual pleasant to hot summer weather… it was cold and gray the whole time.
As with several of the other recent Paris photographs, this one falls into the “quick grab” category, in which I work very fast before an opportunity disappears. Here it was partly the woman walking toward my camera position — I managed to get two frames including her before she was gone. I’m also fascinated by a few other things, including the prevalence of the color red in this scene, along with the extensive plant life above the canvas overhang.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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