Wednesday 28 December 2011

Lady Wistful

Sorting through this year's photos, I stumbled upon this one.


She was selling antiques at a market in Wroclaw. I was struck by her mix of sassiness and melancholy, and asked to photograph her.

Her: "Why?"
Me: "I like your style."

She led me to a green patch behind her stall, tore off some leaves and looked at me.  

Friday 23 December 2011

PIRELLI 2012








1 - Edita Vilkeviciute
2 - Kate Moss
3 - Saskia De Brauw
4 - Saskia De Brauw
5-  Guinevere van Seenus

Mario Sorrenti for the 2012 Pirelli calendar.

Let's plunge into the year as ethereal anorexic-athletic goddesses.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Nouvel Bath

On Sunday I voluntarily went to Le Havre. Not to take a ferry to England or photograph urban desolation - but to take a bath.








Les Bains de Docks were designed by Jean Nouvel and might actually be worth the treck out. There are 6 indoor and outdoor swimming pools (heated in the winter), saunas, steam rooms, and a mega slide for children (and childish twentysomethings).

Le Havre felt like post-nuclear Fukushima and there was virtually no place to eat, but facing the bleakness was kind of fun. 

The Paris Wallpaper Guide also recommends this as a schmancy day trip from the capital. Not that you can't just go swimming there.

Thursday 15 December 2011

Sur-real

I'm clearly suffering from summer nostalgia.

Today I reminisced about how I went to Portugal for a well-behaved weekend with my parents.

I was borderline bored for most of it, apart from reading  "The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris"  (crucial) and telling my parents to stop the car at randomly surreal places between desert and soulless villages.

Like these.



(Don Quixote)



UFO

Sunday 11 December 2011

Sunday Observer

In early November I went to Rome. The last days of Indian Summer.
On a Sunday to myself, I took a stroll and followed the natives.


This trio walked along the Tiber. It's around 11 o'clock, they come from a nearby market. I'm above, catching up with their shadows.


Signora is waiting for bus in a deserted part of town. It arrives, she gets up. I keep on walking.


The best-dressed Romans are the clerics. In the center, this tiny Sorella is marvelling at the window of a shoe shop. I follow her until the end of the street.


Intimately and overexposed, at Termini station. I press the release and hurry off for a pizza. 

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Who is Jill Scott?

When I was 16 I recorded a Diva Sing Off on VH1 with my MiniDisc player. The whole thing was like a pre-mortem tribute to Aretha Franklin, and pretty much every gay icon was there: Mariah, Celine, Gloria, Shania...

But there was also Jill Scott. She seemed like the most Aretha-like, though more jazzy-poetic and 21st century. I bought her first album "Who is Jill Scott?" and haven't stopped listening to it since.

Last week I went to see her in concert at the Brixton Academy, and she blew me away as much as back in 2001. I think Jillly might be on my MiniDisc player (or iPod) for another ten years. At least.


1999, Jill Scott + the Roots, "You Got Me" (which Jill wrote)


  
"A Long Walk" (classic) + "Golden" (2004)


"He Loves Me" - a LOT of pathos


"Cross my Mind" - Grammy award winner


"Gettin' in the Way" - You better chill girl

Friday 2 December 2011

Versatile Viviane

For over a year I've been seeing Viviane Sassen's images around the block, without connecting the dots. This week I realised who she was, and I'm won over by this Kenyan-raised Dutch stunner. There is something very intriguing about her photos - slightly surreal, with a seeminly accidental fashion spin, yet earthy and African.

No surprise then, that she not only makes it to MoMA New York or the poster of Paris Photo, but also onto the pages of high fashion magazines.