Ian's-tagram

We’re back – not sadly, for we certainly enjoyed a real break and it’s hard to come back to the routine.

This morning was particularly interesting as the farmer opposite our chambre d’hôte was picking the grapes for his white wine – this is done mechanically and it was a first for me to be able to actually get close to the machine and see how it’s done – in fact I was able to spend some time on the top of the beast as it shook the grapes off the vines!

The visit to Perpignan and Visa was as good as it gets – stacks of images, with some excellent some less so – but still well worth the visit. A name to remember is Ferhat BOUDA / Agency Vu with a memorable exhibition based on the Berbers in Morocco. The Stanley Greene retrospective was, for me, disappointing – I somehow felt the images didn’t show his talent to the full…

Visa pour l’Image – Eglise des Dominicains

We didn’t reach Arles although we had planed a visit – somehow the call of the swimming pool etc. etc. overcame our cultural needs…

This year, upon arriving at Causse de la Selle, we even managed to walk the hour and a half up to the top of the Pic St Loup – a relatively easy climb, to be rewarded by breathtaking views.

We were even ‘dive bombed’ by a local glider pilot (there’s a landing strip on the plain below) !!

The Pic St Loup (left) almost dwarfed by the ‘falaise’ rising from La Plaine.

Sadly, the famous ‘Cube’ turned out to be entirely virtual – the architect is real, but the cube is a ‘project’ he invented for a friends birthday – the photo-montage had a number of us wondering, but after more research (and having driven past the Pic!) we discovered the truth – sad really.

These are the gardens at our favorite eating place The Auberge du Cèdre at Lauret. We go every year, and it is always a real pleasure – the atmosphere, and the food of course – and they have rooms….so perhaps one day!

We also managed a short visit to Clermont l’Hérault to see an expo from a friend of ours, Georges Souche – sadly he wasn’t there, but the pictures were well worth the effort – he rang us the next day and when we said we were returning via Montpelier, he suggested a short halt at a photographer friend of his who was also having an expo – naturally Georges didn’t turn up as planed…I think he’s avoiding me!

Planning underway for the 5th visit to l’Hérault and all it’s wonders in 2018…

After our annual pilgrimage to Perpignan in September for Visa pour l’Image, we generally stay a week in the department of l’Hérault which is situated just north of Perpignan, of which Montpellier is the principle city.

The north of the department is the southern edge of the Cevennes, which is a National Park, and the gorges and general landscapes are completely different from the area in which we live, and we love the contrast.

For the past three years we have visited a series of sculptures, plonked down in the countryside during the summer months. They change each year, and there are usually six, and we try to find them all…

The Wolf – 2015

The Flying Man – 2016

This year, however, this circuit does not exist, which is a shame, but there is something new…

An architect called Christophe Benichou has built a large metal cube, and placed it at the top of the Pic St Loup

According to his website « Un cube en équilibre précaire, sur le point de basculer dans le vide, une sculpture minimaliste, impressionnante et intrigante : c’est ainsi que le projet se présente dans le grand paysage  »

« A precariously balancing cube, on the point of falling into space, a minimaliste sculpture, impressive and intriguing: it’s how this project is presented in the landscape »

I think it looks very interesting – albeit somewhat daunting for those with vertigo!

We will definitely have to add this to our ‘do list’…

Extravaganzza is a photo exhibition in Toulouse from the 8th of September until the 5th of November – it’s basically a collection of 60 iconic ‘rock’ photographs and takes place at the FabLab in Toulouse – where last year we saw the photographs of David Bowie by Mick Rock.

This is an ‘expo-vente’ which means you can actually purchase copies of the photographs exposed.

Halle du FabLab
27bis allée Maurice Sarrault
31300 Toulouse

Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 10h – 19h

Entry: 7€

And then, of course, there’s Arles…

141 exhibitions around the city…this is going to be fun! (Exhausting, but fun…)

Visa Pour l’Image started on Monday in Perpignan – we’ll be there on Saturday, and I’ve been checking out some of the exhibitions, and exhibiters, before we arrive.

One we’ll certainly not miss is Stanley Green, who sadly died in May this year.

Portrait de Zelina, de Stanley Greene © Stanley Green

From the book ‘Open Wound’ photographed in Chechnya

Green had a long association with Visa, and even launched the agency NOOR with Kadir van Lohuizen at the 19th edition of Visa in September 2007. I’m looking forward to seeing this retrospective of his work.

This year there are exhibits from Michael Nichols, National Geographic ‘A Wild Life’, the World Press Photo winner and runners up, Angela Ponce Romero ‘Ayacoucho’ photographed in Peru, and many more – this is going to take a while!

 

We are due for a little break – some would even call this a holiday – however, quite a lot of our time will be concerned with photographic exhibitions over the next two or three weeks.

Here’s the run down:

Firstly there’s Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan

This is a regular trip for us – practically the entire city is devoted to this event, and it’s really worth a visit. All the exhibitions are free (Yes, unlike at Arles, you don’t pay...) and of very high quality. Sadly due to the fact that this is devoted to journalism, there is a lot of repetition – but in some ways this is very creative as it shows different points of view on the same subject.

Then there’s Arles…

I’m still in two minds about this event as I don’t consider the admission fees particularly ‘friendly’, and also the choice of a lot of the ‘avant garde’ work seems a bit of a piss-take – I remember visiting the exhibition of the work presented for the final diploma at photography school – and came away wondering where photography is going…

This said, I’m ready to accept that I have a very particular taste, and fully prepared to keep my mind as open as possible – instead of buying a ticket for all the exhibitions, this year we’ll choose a few at random – Annie Leibowitz has an expo there and I’m looking forward to at least that one!

Last but not least, there’s the current exhibition at the Pavillion Populaire in Montpellier. This finishes on the 17th of September, so we’d better get there quickly…

I’m not really familiar with the work of this photographer, but the little I’ve seen leads me to think it would be worth a visit…and as we’ll be in the general area for our ‘holiday’, why not!

Update: This exhibition will be followed by Ralph Gibson « The Black Trilogy 1970-74 » from the 18.10.17 – 08.01.18 another ‘must visit’ on my list…

This is Michael Leary, the boss of RyanAir – dreadful man in general, but this week he actually managed to say something I completely agree with.

Well, in truth, two things – these comments were directed at Theresa May the English Prime Minister “There is going to be a cessation of flights from March 2019 if she doesn’t get her finger out and get a deal done in the next 12 months.”

This was prompted by Theresa May jetting off to Japan for three days. Michael Leary thinks she would be better employed in Europe sorting out the ‘Brexit’ headache with the European Union.

The second thing was “Brexit is going to be a disaster for the UK economy, and she needs to be over there negotiating or at least removing these road blocks, not swanning around Japan drinking tea and sake. »

And for once, I’m at a complete loss – I just have to agree!

 

Yes – she’s managed to piss people off again – and this time with such ‘style’ – here she is pretending to be someone with a million percent more class than ‘Kim’ will ever have…

Interestingly, the original caption says it all

« Not buying it: Others were upset and insulted that the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star who found fame thanks to a sex tape was dubbed ‘America’s New First Lady’ by the magazine »

Nice dogs…

Some people over on Facebook have been complaining that I’m not posting photographs recently – this is true, but I have some very good excuses !

I’m busy.

I’m preparing three new exhibitions which will be showing in September and October. (In addition to the contents of a book…etc. etc.)

I’m busy.

I’ve been working on the redecoration of the entrance hall of our offices (Why oh why did I suggest we repaint this??!!)

I’m busy.

I’ve been designing, and redesigning (we’re on version 6.0 now…) the kitchen in my daughters new flat – which I will then have to go an install at the end of September.

I’m busy.

And last, but by no means least, the period between consecutive weekends is regularly filled up with something called ‘work’ (the bit that allows me to pay some of the bills, eat etc.)

So, it’s not because I don’t want to post any images, but just recently I have to admit I’ve been quite busy…

Since coming back to Facebook a couple of years ago, I have followed See in Mono – this is a page dedicated to monochromatic (B&W !) images and there are sometimes some stunning examples of the art of photography.

One recent image which made me sit up and look is this one, by Dean Nixon.

« After the Storm » © Dean Nixon – used with permission

The photographer suggests that this is an « interpretation connected with concepts of birth, death, rebirth, as well as the mythology of Aphrodite and the sea ». I’m not sure I would have got all of that on my own, but the general balance and strength of the image, the power station, the nude, the moving clouds, all combine to make an image I appreciate a lot. (And gets me thinking of future projects…)