Tag Archives: Aix-en-Provence

SHOOTR Issue 0

Alex Coghe asked me if I wanted to participate in the next magazine he wants to publish. It’s called SHOOTR. You can find out a little more here and even send a photo for possible publication. I didn’t quite understand the concept and it was while reading the article that I understood that Alex wanted our best photo taken so far in the street. So as much to tell you that it is very complicated. I never wondered what was my best street shot I have done so far. And yet, for several years now, I have been selecting 12 of my best photos (very subjective choice …) for my last Blog of the year. It’s a matter of having a retrospective of the past year.
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Street Photography Tips : Triangles

Lauren Welles : A “Metzkeresque” photo (look up Ray Metzker, if unfamiliar with his work). Perfect lines, shadows, light and triangles – Fundamental elements of good composition. While I often see work like this in Street Photography, I think that verticals are much harder to get right and this one does it perfectly, making use of evey inch of the frame. Continue reading Street Photography Tips : Triangles

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2016 re-processing

I told you that I had started working on a book that would bring together photos of my 3 years spent in the streets of Aix-en-Provence. I have already made a selection of about 130 photos. I had paused this project because I was not satisfied with the processing of some old photos. The problem is that I no longer had control over these photos because I had lost the RAW files during a hard drive crash. Finally, I accidentally dropped the HDD on the ground and since then it no longer worked. I still waited 4 years before looking into the issue. So I sent the faulty HDD for a clean room data recovery. It cost me the tidy sum of € 800 … Continue reading 2016 re-processing

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T.M.E in Reunion Island

For the past week, I have come out of hibernation a bit. The Pentax/Ricoh episode that I told you about in my previous blog had the effect of waking me up. I wanted to dust off my GoPro. Imagine that I did not even know how to use it ! I bought it last August before coming here. I had used it very little because I was quite busy. I nevertheless looked in the internal memory and I found some videos made last year that I hadn’t even worked on. I found some photos related to this video and I assembled everything to have this last T.M.E made in Aix-en-Provence. You can see below what it is.
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Ricoh GRD4 and color

During my first years of blogging, I wrote a lot about the Ricoh GRD4. A little normal, I used this camera for almost three years continuously. Since then I switched to the Ricoh GR which is the camera that I now use on the street. But I have the impression that my blog is still associated with the Ricoh GRD4. Many people end up on my site after having researched on google for infos concerning Ricoh GRD4. These are 2 or 3 year old blogposts. Recently a person called me on YouTube asking me if it was relevant to buy a Ricoh GRD4 today and what about color photography with this camera?
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What’s next ?

We have been confined for more than 45 days. When this period started, the children were on holidays. Nothing has changed … Today the children are officially on vacation. In the meantime, my wife and I have spent all of our time teaching them school at home. One thing is certain, I am not made for that. Not enough patience and surely a lack of education too. But I don’t think we were too bad during this confinement. We hope that the deconfinement planned for May 11st in France will go well. Children should start school on May 18th. It is still conditional. In principle, we would like them to resume school, but we are awaiting more details on how to resume classes. The virus appears to be under control in Reunion Island. In the past two weeks, we have counted fewer than 20 cases. Continue reading What’s next ?

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Revisiting 2016 & 2017

That’s it, it’s been more than 15 days that we are confined to our home. Not being essential to work (I am still in training), I was asked to stay at home until further notice. The children do not have school either and we are supposed to teach them every day. After just 1 week, I came to the conclusion that this virus was not very bad and that the children should go back to school … More seriously, I find that the children live confinement rather well. My parents’ house is very large and they also have at their disposal the garden with a concrete section which allows them to ride a scooter. We make them work in the morning and part of the afternoon, but it has a little holiday taste for them. Not really for us …
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Street Photography Tips : work the scene

Most of the time when I’m on the street, I’m on the move. I even photograph while walking without pausing. There is a lot of instinct in the way I operate on the street. I photograph what catches my attention. But sometimes, I happen to ask myself and take more time on a stage. Very often these are scenes with static characters. It’s like in landscape photography. The mountains or the trees in front of us will not move. We can take the time to compose better, to better orient ourselves in relation to the sun … It’s the same thing in certain circumstances with Street Photography.
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Looking back to the year 2019

December 2018 marked a radical change in the life of my family and mine. Two months earlier I had applied for a return to Reunion Island. After more than 25 years spent in Provence between Aix-en-Provence and Jouques, why want to change ? While it may seem like diving into the unknown, it really wasn’t. Finally more of a little splash. My parents and my sister being over there, our installation would be done without problems. Nevertheless we were aware that we were going to leave life as we had built it in Jouques. Lots of changes in the end for everyone. We had to sell the house we had built, to leave very close friends. Never underestimate a move, especially when it is done with children. They left friends behind. They grew up together and the separation was difficult for them. But as you well know, children are resourceful and have this ability to move forward without looking behind them.
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Aix-en-Provence on my mind

I arrived in Aix-en-Provence at the end of 1997, a few months before this month of July 1998 blessed by all French Footix. That year, the French Football team became for the first time World Champion of Football. Footix was the mascot of this World Cup. I do not know why during these planetary events, there are always these ridiculous mascots. Here Footix was a pretty ridiculous cock whose name was a distant reminder to the irreducible Gallic of Uderzo. You know Asterix, Obelix, Idefix, Panoramix … Since I think that the term Footix has become pejorative when you speak of someone who loves football. I so have spent more than 20 years in Aix-en-Provence before moving to this lost island in Indian Ocean. How long do we live ? 80 years ? A bit more for some. I spent 1/4th of my life in Provence. I met my wife, I became a dad and I also discovered the Street Photography late at the age of 40. When I see some young people starting street photography, I’m a little envious because I thought that if I had been interested in Street Photography in the 80s, I could have documented this period and all those who follow-up … Regrets ? A little yes. Continue reading Aix-en-Provence on my mind

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