FILM IS NOT DEAD

#filmisnotdead

Today in our digital world, we can create everything, or have artificial intelligence create a magnificent image for us. Take a banal photo, go to Lightroom and you can create a superb « instagrammable » image. It’s impossible to fail (or at least almost impossible). Of course, you need to know your digital tools for this. There really are no limits to your creativity.

Legendary Leica M6

So I wanted to go back to a simpler process where I can find the grain of the photos of my childhood, where shooting is important, where you can’t really know if your image is successful (or even if the photo was actually taken at all). Where the choice of your film is essential for the rendering.

Kodak Ultramax shot with my Leica M6

I could have dusted down and used an old average quality device with equally medium lenses which I had (my means were limited when I bought them) . But no! I treated myself, and bought a brand new Leica M6 (we only live once!). I already have very good lenses for my M10-P so why not live this photographic experience to the end?

I’ve been using my Leica M6 for 5 months and enjoying these moments. Until now I’ve shot in black and white with different films of different brands (Kodak Tri X 400, Ilford HP5, ).  I’ll  also test the colour with legendary films such as the Portra 400.

Imperfections

And then comes the wait to receive the email from the lab with the link to download the photos in your mailbox. You discover the result and remember how this or that photo was taken. During the development of the first film, I felt relieved to see that I had managed to take photos and with a very good result.

Montpellier City Hall

I find that beyond the process, photos (taken on film) seem, with their imperfections, to have a soul , an authenticity unspoilt by any artificial intelligence.

Let me reassure you, I’m not going to abandon digital photography. It’s just a new means of expression (or old…) for my personal experience.

Antigone, Montpellier

Why Leica?

I started photography 12 y ago. I started with a Nikon D3200 and very quickly, a year after, I bought the Nikon D800. At the time I looked at Leica but it was too expensive as I didn’t know if I would still have the bug many years later. So I bought a Fujifilm EX-1 which I still have today.

Why buy a small camera? To be agile when you go somewhere and not have a bulky camera and big, heavy lenses.

So I turned 50, and still had the bug more than ever.

I therefore decided to accomplish one of my dreams, to buy the holy grail of cameras. I bought a Leica M10-P with a summilux 35mn 1.4. The perfect combo…. For me (everyone is different).

And I bought a Voightlander 50mn 1.2 for portraits. However the quality of the Summilux 35mn is so good that I use this lense most of the time.

What is my experience with my M10-P so far?

Well I carry it everywhere I go, even if I take another weather-sealed camera for wildlife or landscape photography (such as my Fujifilm XT4).

The fact that everything is manual, even the focus, means you take the time to compose your photograph, and the result is quite unique. The Leica look. I think only photographers who use a Leica know what I’m talking about.

In fact, most of my best pictures have been taken with my Leica, and one of the reasons is because it’s so compact that it’s easy to carry in a small bag and because there’s no compromise with the quality. And the manual process forces you to compose your picture. I love it.

So, 12 years after having started photography, if I were to advise my younger self about the choice of camera, I would say:  forget about the latest camera gear; go and buy a second hand Leica camera with a Leica lens in a Leica shop where you know that the camera has been revised. You will have in your hand the best brush to paint a story with light… Yes a camera is still a tool and it will never replace your creativity; it might enhance it but that’s all.

So my journey with Leica is still going, and I’m now the happy owner of a Leica M6. But that’s  another story… that I will share with you.

Une exposition à ne pas manquer - Duy Anh Nhan Duc

Carte blanche à Duy Anh Nhan Duc

Le mur

Le weekend dernier j’ai pu découvrir les oeuvres d’un artiste qui m’ont beaucoup émues. Sur les conseils de mon épouse nous nous sommes rendus au musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet voir l’exposition d’un artiste que je ne connaissais pas. Les oeuvres sont situées au 4ème étage du musée dans une rotonde baignée de lumière naturelle. 

D’abord un petit mot sur l’artiste:

Duy Anh Nhan Duc est un artiste vietnamien vivant à Paris. Il met en lumière des végétaux que nous côtoyons lors de nos promenades champêtres mais ils sont tellement communs que nous ne leur prêtons plus attention. Ceci est dommage lorsque nous voyons comment notre artiste les sublime. 

Nous pouvons voir le travail minutieux de construction de ses oeuvres notamment celle d’un mur où les briques sont constituées d’aigrettes de pissenlits. 

Son exposition:

Ce mur est la première oeuvre qui s’érige devant nous, nous obligeant, déjà de reprendre notre souffle (4 étages) mais aussi de constater que ce mur qui laisse passer la lumière est empreint d’une certaine fragilité. Le tissage semble montrer une robustesse mais finalement force est de constater que ce mur nous semble éphémère, probablement il symbolise la fragilité de notre environnement.

Une fois que nous tournons le dos au mur nous nous dirigeons vers le centre de la pièce où siège le parloir des souhaits. Quelle belle image. Cette œuvre est créée à partir de vieilles fenêtres et de portes que l’on imagine récupérées sur des anciennes bâtisses. Ainsi elles obtiennent une seconde vie où elles deviennent les gardiennes de ces milliers d’aigrettes qui lorsque nous tournons la manivelle s’élèvent dans un mouvement circulaire. C’est à ce moment là que vous choisirez de faire un vœu.

Vous l’aurez compris, l’artiste à travers ses oeuvres, a un message fort à faire passer. Il veut nous faire comprendre que le monde qui nous entoure est éphémère et que nous devons prendre le temps de regarder ce qui peut nous paraître insignifiant mais qui est la base fondamentale de notre planète. Nous ne sommes que de passage et nous devons laisser la beauté de nos paysages et de notre planète aux générations futures qui j’espère auront plus conscience que nous de ce qui est important sur cette terre. La récupération des fenêtres et des portes nous démontre qu’il est encore possible d’utiliser les choses qui nous entourent et de dire non à l’obsolescence programmée. Utilisons ce que nous avons déjà et arrêtons le consumérisme inutile. Voilà ce que m’a inspiré ces oeuvres. Il se pourrait que vous verrez un autre message lors de votre visite. Je ne peux que vous encourager à y aller et de vous faire votre propre expérience.

Le mur

Exposition du 10 novembre 2021 au 7 février 2022 - Musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet

Paris la défense - Urban Week

Alors un photographe comme moi amoureux de la nature que viendrait il faire dans une ville. Celui qui parcourt le bitume dans son van, aimant être près de la nature et se sentir libre, pourquoi irait il s’enfermer dans une ville, une prison, d’ailleurs quand on te demande si tu vis à Paris, on te demande de préciser si tu vis intra-muros… entre quatre murs.

Bref la pandémie du Covid t’a appris une chose, c’est de découvrir le monde… autour de chez toi… Donc les grands voyages sont pour le moment suspendu.

Je fais des photos de paysages mais ce que j’aime c’est l’esthétique. Lorsque je prend une photo d’un endroit qui me séduit, c’est d’abord réfléchir au résultat de cette photo. Tu vois une scène mais ce que tu imagines est différent de ce que tu vois et tout l’art de la photographie à mon sens, et je dis bien à mon sens, est de retranscrire ton imagination dans une photo et, la scène que tu as vue, te présente des éléments que tu vas disposer d’une certaine manière en composant ton image. Seul le rendu, la photo finale ou plutôt l’image que tu as créé te donnera le sentiment que tu as réussi quelque chose, parfois en sublimant un paysage que beaucoup de personne auraient trouver banal et n’auraient probablement pas saisi le moment, les lumières de ce paysage. Tout cela pour te dire, ce qui m’intéresse c’est l’esthétique et si la photo raconte une histoire alors tu as créé un chef d’œuvre à mes yeux. L’idée, c’est de le partager ensuite.

Le mois dernier a été l’Urban week, un évènement qui a lieu tous les ans sur le Parvis de La Défense où se mélange le « Street art », la musique, le sport de rue, Skate board, basket ball, Rollers… Quelques artistes de renommée mondiale se sont retrouver pour créer quelques oeuvres que j’ai pu saisir dans mon objectif.

Je me devais d’y aller. La pluie s’invitant ce dimanche, j’ai du partir avec un appareil et objectif grand angle résistant aux intempéries et avec un autofocus pour pouvoir saisir les skaters en action. Vous l’avez compris, j’ai laissé mon Leica M à la maison…

Et je vous avoue que c’est toujours un déchirement.

Arrivé sur place, je ne fus pas déçu par la qualité des oeuvres exposées, de l’ambiance qui y régnait et par la qualité des exposants dont un en particulier.

Les oeuvres présentes étaient toutes magnifiques, les couleurs, les perspectives. Une à mon sens sortait du lot, celle avec le lapin en relief.

Les skaters ne m’ont pas déçu par leur audace, prenant leur élan et sautant sur les rampes pour ainsi leur envols et faire virevolter leur skate dans les airs et retomber dessus à l’atterrissage… le taux de réussite était je dois dire assez faible. Mais j’admirai leur pugnacité et leur détermination. J’en ai profité pour les saisir au vol  avec dans le fond la Grande Arche, monument emblématique de La Défense. Vous l’aurez noté, je me suis permis quelques distortions en jouant sur les curseurs de Lightroom. Ca ne sera pas du gout de tout le monde mais je trouve que cela va bien avec le thème. Dites moi ce que vous en pensez dans les commentaires.

Being a photographer in the Paris area

Sometimes it’s trying to live here, as the Paris region is so busy.  I live in a nice suburb, west of Paris. I chose this area first of all because I wanted a house, and secondly because of its proximity by motorway to Paris and to La Défense, where my full time job is based. I know it’s quite a dream place for a photographer. We’ll come to that later. Being west of Paris, it’s easy to get to to Normandy and see the ocean, and even do some surfing.

When we look at it that way, it seems idyllic for a photographer to be here. Indeed, if you are a passionate street photographer, come on !!! You can go to Paris, spend time in Montmartre and capture typical French moments. You love architecture photography? You can take pictures of the fabulous Paris La Défense business district. You want to see the ocean, visit little villages loaded with historic moments or follow in the footsteps of  famous historic people (Claude Monet, Van Gogh, Emile Zola, …)? Your days will be spent getting out and enjoying photography.

Well that’s far from reality… unfortunately.

It can be so frustrating living in this area in comparison with other cities in France, such as Montpellier (which has particular significance for me)… Indeed, it’s so busy in the Paris area, or “l’Ile de France” as we call it. It’s crowded with people, and cars, therefore traffic jams. Don’t think that you can head off to Normandy on a Friday evening after your day at work… The roads will be jammed, and even worse it’s likely there’s a traffic accident. You can say goodbye to your nice evening in Deauville. 

So, you might decide to go to Paris, to the Champs Elysée, if there are no demonstrations that is. Before the pandemic, the “Gilets Jaunes”, for instance, occupied this famous avenue every weekend, causing trouble, destroying beautiful sites … turning it into a war zone. In fact, I went to take pictures of the aftermath one weekend. I’ll write a blog about this and share my pictures in the near future.

So it’s not easy… But, I should stop complaining (sorry, being French, complaining’s in my genes!) 

It’s true that Paris … is Paris. Such a beautiful city. Normandy’s  loaded with history… What you need, however,  is time. Time to plan your weekends, to take traffic into account and try to get round it.  When you have a van like me it’s a great advantage for day trips:   you can have lunch in the van, you can go for a nice hike, discover scenic spots and perhaps even find a pitch for the night.

So why not follow me on Instagram? You’ll be notified when my next blog is posted. I’ll document my outdoor photography and take you with me on my journey.

Until next time, stay safe…

does my Leica M10P have a soul?

It has become my favorite object but that in itself  doesn’t mean that it has a soul. No I think the reason  it does have a soul is because it translates what I see in a fabulous moment. A moment is a period of time and time in photography is very important. It is an essential part of the process of making a photograp. This fabulous moment is unique because although it may look like another, each photo is different. The aperture, the exposure and the ISO are different, the posture of the person will be different. If you’re taking a landscape, the light will be different. So you are seizing a moment which is unique. I am not a tech guy but I can clearly see a difference between a picture taken with my Nikon or Fujifilm and one takenwith my Leica. Is it because there’s no autofocus on the Leica M ? Maybe. Leica is a legendary brand.  So many famous photographers have used Leica cameras. Is it because the bokeh that I have with my Leica Summilux 35mn is incomparable with other brands? 

These shots taken with my Leica will better translate the message that I am trying to convey.

What can I do for you?

Sisterhood

These frozen moments are immortal now, and each time I look at them I can see ... the emotion of the person in the frame. Yes, that’s it! If the Leica has a soul, it is because it captures in a moment, in a fraction of time, the emotion surrounding a person or a tree or even  an object. And because you are behind the camera, you are also in control of the impact that you want your photograph to have on the people looking at it. My Leica is an integral part of my life. It sits on my bedside table and when I eat , it is never too far from me. It has its designated place in my daily bag. When I leave my place in the morning it is with me, to ensure that I won’t miss a moment, an emotion. 

The colours are particular too.  Let’s talk about the colour. It is a blueish kind of color. The contrast are subtlety and if you open your aperture were wide you will have, what I have read somewhere else, “the Leica look". 

I suppose this magic touch comes  from the high quality sensor (full frame) and the quality of the Leica summilux 35mn lens:he best combo in my opinion. I have a Voigtlander 50 mn 1.2 lens. Although it is a good quality lens, it does not have the premium of a Leica lens (and the price it is not the same). I recognize that I have to test it more and ideally  compare it to a Leica 50 mn lens. Leica could you lend me one for the test?

A Leica gives you  a certain feeling. You get inspiration when you compose your images you are enjoying  the process of taking photos.

My Leica does not have a name yet but this won’t be the case for long. 

Our first trip in Camille, our Campervan

England & Wales 2014

England & Wales

Camille

Ok, so she may not bear any resemblance to the van in our logo, but Camille has the bohemian soul of the old combis (and heating and other things that can’t be sniffed at too!). We waited patiently as she was built (with love, I’m sure) in Hanover and finally signed the adoption papers in March.

Sunday 20th April 

After stopping off in St Abbs for a bite to eat and a short stroll along the impressive cliffs, we jump back in the van and head off to Northumberland. We want to have a look at Bamburgh Castle, which sits majestically on the coast and can be seen for miles. As we drive through the mist the silhouette of the impressive building can just be made out. The mist is most unwelcome and accompanied by a chilly breeze - we’re glad to have packed those woolly hats for our first English tourist attraction! Needless to say, our walk round the castle is brief and we are soon back in the warmth of Camille’s bosom, ready to track down campsite number one.

It is with much pride that we flash our newly-acquired Camping and Caravanning Club membership cards at reception when we arrive in Dunstan Hill campsite near Alnwick. We quickly set about making ourselves at home - the children are falling over themselves to help pitch the tent etc (no sarcasm here) and before we know it dinner time is upon us. Learning to cook in a California is quite an art - I’m more used to it now, but in the early days of the trip I kept thinking I was going to knock everything over or set my hair alight when leaning over to get something out of the cupboard. Small and smooth movements are required! But we have our first dinner and it is, of course, delicious. 

On his travels to the toilets Gabriel spots a beautiful T1. Serge just has to take a photo (and look extremely suspicious while he’s at it!).

Monday 21st April 2014

Someone must have heard us moaning about the English weather because the next morning we wake to glorious sunshine. Some of us (that’s you Jeanne) even take the brave step of  having breakfast outside!.

We get ready and set off for Alnwick Castle. This too is a beautiful place and we really enjoy our visit. All the Harry Potter aspects of the visit are great - the boys love reliving parts of the films and Jeanne makes a good stab at flying her broomstick. The jesters’ show is thoroughly entertaining too. 

After the castle we visit the poison garden. Again, our guide is entertaining and informative. I will never look at rhubarb in the same way again and will forever curse the Romans for bringing nettles to Britain!

Tuesday 22nd April 2014. 

Today more than one black cloud is hanging over us. Jeanne has hit it off with our neighbour and sadly the little girl is leaving. 

We get really adventurous and decide to visit the Holy Island (at our risk and peril). We make it though; Camille’s amphibious skills are not put to the test. Dotted along the causeway and elsewhere are posters warning of the dangers of defying the tides (a poor Landrover up to its neck in water). We have a very good lunch at a Lonely planet recommended restaurant. Serge and I do the “local delicacy thing” and opt for a very tasty crab sandwich. In the words of one famous food critic (Serge Garcia) “You cannot go to the Holy Island and do not eat crabs”.

Unfortunately, the black clouds have stayed with us during our visit and the rain finally appears, making the island look a tad miserable.

Despite dreary conditions we have a short stopover to take a look at the picturesque bay close to our camp site.

After a lovely dinner in our cosy house Jeanne retires to her bed upstairs (Camille has magically turned into a mansion) and Patrick watches a movie on Gabe's Ipod while the rest of us tune in to another thrilling episode of Dallas season 3.

23rd April 2014

Today we wake up in fog. The Northumbrian part of our trip is over - Oxford beckons. The sun manages to break through and we get on our way south. We arrive with the rain again around 5pm. 

It’s a race against the rain to pitch our tent and Serge wrestles frustratingly with the Cali Topper (Camille’s rainmac if you like). He manages to solve the problem. Fellow California owners a couple of pitches away are clearly concerned at our plight and venture out into the rain to help. They’re very kind and have many useful tips for us novice Californians. 

The dirty clothes are piling up so I buy some laundry tokens with my “Mickey Mouse” (that’s Scottish to you and me) money. I’m sure the campsite manager doesn’t mean anything by that remark…

Calamars courtesy of M&S on the menu tonight.

Serge has identified a problem with the waste water level and it’s started to niggle - need to find out what it is.

24th April 2014

We decide to try out Oxford buses. It’s a straightforward way into the town.  The weather is great today, we may even get to take our jackets off! 

Lunch is taken at Jamie’s Italian, which turns out to be a hot experience for Gabriel. He has his first experience of a Jalapeño pepper, something he won’t forget in a hurry! 

We wander round Oxford and find it to be a beautiful place. We discover the splendour of Christchurch College with its staircase and Great Hall (I don’t know who sets the table in there, but it’s not an enviable task). Parts of Oxford seem very unreal in a way - we see characters who make us wonder if the tourist board pays actors play to up to the stereotye Etonian. I mean, who smokes a pipe when he’s 18?

In the evening we make the most of the beautiful weather and have an “aperitif” with our Californian neighbours (and inaugurate the awning, just for good measure). 

And it’s movie night! We settle down on our cosy couches and watch “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, which proves to be quite a nice family film.

25th April

The rain is back…and it’s heavy! We take a while debating our options today. We then realise that staying in the van all day is out of the question if we want to stay sane, so we decide to venture out in the rain. Covered from head to toe in glamourous waterproofs, we return to Oxford.

We give in to the children and have a quick lunch at Mcdonald’s where we are surrounded by students in gowns munching on Big Macs. The Ashmoleum Museum provides our haven from the horrible weather this afternoon. Like so many museums it has the advantage of being free. There are great collections from Ancient Greece and Rome - Patrick acts as our guide, filling us in on important details (he’s been studying these subjects lately, so he is THE expert).

26th April

It is now time to bid farewell to Oxford and move southwards to Stonehenge. It’s a short drive. Stonehenge certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s a fabulous site and the children are impressed. The wind, however, is close to galeforce and once again those woolly hats come in handy! Such is the force of the wind that the resident crows have great difficulty flying.

After our visit we check in to the next campsite on our list - Salisbury. After a laundry session we go for a walk along the river to the town centre. We take in the cathedral and the old parts of the town before caving in (again) and having dinner in Pizza Hut. We’re slightly lazy and take a taxi back to the campsite.

27th April.

Rain greets us again this morning. We’re off across another border - this time to Wales. We leave Salisbury campsite soaked after packing up in the rain. It’s character-building we tell ourselves.

Our journey takes us to the Brecon Beacons and is quite long. As all the official signage in Wales is in two languages, we get a chance to learn many Welsh words (especially those relating to traffic, so perhaps not the most useful). We start wondering if we’ll ever find our campsite. We are definitely off the beaten track, but with the help of a few local dogwalkers we finally find home for the night. The surrounding countryside is really pretty. So remotely located are we that there is no coverage for mobiles, 3G, etc. This is Digital Detox (and it doesn’t go down well with the younger members of the family!).

The local pub provides dinner tonight. We negotiate the tiny road back to the campsite by foot in the dark and ….you’ve guessed it…the rain. Serge has to put the Calitopper on - the van of course, not himself - which is not much fun in the rain. However, he has mastered it now and in no time he’s back inside.

28th April

Today our plan is to head over to the Pembrokeshire coast. As we leave the campsite we’re already thinking about the evening’s dinner; we stop off at the tiny village shop to buy some sausages produced by a farm next to the campsite. Serge is already imagining how good they will taste once they’ve had the barbecue treatment. After driving for a while we stop off at Carreg Cennan Castle, firstly to picnic in the carpark and then to visit the site. This requires a short hike up a hill to the ruins of the castle. There’s a great view.

Another breath-taking view is awaiting us at the Pembrokeshire campsite . From there we look directly out over the sea. We choose our pitch, settle in and light the bbq - the sausages from the farm exceed our expectations - yum! Serge plays rugby with the kids a little before we call it a day.

29th April

We wake up with the sun and a priceless view. It’s a shame to leave but time is pressing on and we still have Snowdonia to get under out belt, so to speak. We pack up and head northwards. Our lunch spot is Cardigan Bay.

After a while the road becomes more winding and the scenery much wilder. We are surrounded by mountains. The narrow, meandering road finally takes us to our destination, a picturesque village by the name of Beddgelert. We find our campsite and check in. It’s very wooded here and quite empty. We do have the distinct impression we are being watched though…The place is buzzing with rabbits, squirrels, bats, you name it. We are definitely in their territory but we manage to cohabit for a night with no problems.

30th  April

This morning we’re leaving our fluffy friends and heading up to the Lake District. We plan to stay here two nights on the shores of Lake Windemere, which is England’s largest lake. We find a small campsite in Bowness on Windemere, which is hooching! It’s a bit like the equivalent of Biarittz Beach in terms of busyness. 

The weather is fine, and looking out on the lake we feel almost like we could be in France somewhere. 

1st May

It is raining again and, wrecklessly, we decided not to put on the Cali-topper last night. The result is that the roof is a little wet. Well, we’ve learned our lesson I suppose…

As the weather’s not great the girls decide to visit the Beatrix Potter Centre while the boys  explore retail possibilities in the town of Windermere (apparently not abundant). Jeanne loves the museum which has a garden made to look just like the one belonging to Mr McGregor in the Peter Rabbit stories.

After a lunch in Camille we go for a walk to see a waterfall on the outskirts of Ambleside. We then drive round the lake and return to the campsite for a bit of a break!.

2nd May

Apart from it being Serge’s birthday it is also sadly the last day of our trip. We must go back to Aberdeen and leave our life as nomads for the time-being at least. The road ahead is long. This is especially true as our trusty sat-nav starts our journey on a very minor road! However, we’re grateful, as it means we’re treated to the most beautiful scenery. We wonder at the miles of dry-stone walls which run over the hills around us - what a lot of work!

As we cross the Dee coming into the Granite City we already feel better about having to end the roadtrip…we’ve already come up with the next trip - to the Secret Bunker and Edinburgh next weekend- hurrah!