The perfect combo for a successful vacation ! If you are a regular reader of this Blog, you know that I have killed a few Ricoh GRD4 by getting too close to the water … It must be said that I am irreparably drawn to water and my children always offer perfect photo opportunities. The holidays started on Friday evening and will last for 15 days. This vacation takes us back a few weeks. Very precisely on August 4th.
Continue reading Sea, Kids and a Ricoh GRD4
Two weeks ago, we spent four days in the south of the island. With the virus raging, we decided to stay home and do some local tourism. We didn’t get very far. Barely 1.5 hours drive. We could also have made the road every day from home to go to the different spots we had targeted, but it’s a change of scenery for the children and for us not to be at home. We had booked a charming little chalet that looked like a treehouse just 20 mins from the sea. Continue reading Shooting Street during holidays
This photo was taken two months ago on the banks of a river that we like to frequent with my boys. We discovered this place a year ago. Reunion is a fairly amazing island. It is relatively small because the tour of the island is just over 200 km. As it is very mountainous with a summit which culminates at 3070 m in the center of the island and a current of wind which blows from east to west (the Alizés), we have a West coast rather always sunny and dry ( the beaches) which contrasts with an east coast which is rather green and therefore damp. This river is located in the east of the island.
Continue reading Behind this shot : Riverside 2
That’s it, I’m with my family on the island of Reunion ! To tell the truth, it feels good to be with my wife and children after more than a month spent away from them after their departure in early August. We have already been separated but never so long. The longest duration should not exceed 1 week. I do not stay long nevertheless because I have to go back to the continent for 3 weeks of training … I was able to discover the new routine of my children. Wake up at 6:15 am, leaving for school at 07:15 am. FYI, at Jouques we used to leave home at 8:00 am … Which is still a big difference. Two reasons explain this earlier departure. The traffic is very dense (not to say infernal …) and also the school that starts half an hour earlier. It’s a new rhythm to take.
Since we are on a tropical island, the sun rises earlier and the city activates earlier too. I was able to visit their school and I am very happy to see that the school is very good and that my children have already adapted to their new environment. They really have a capacity of adaptation that we adults do not have ! I did a little Street Photography in the city with them after school as you can see in the photo above. They have a uniform like the little English. Last Tuesday, I was able to go explore my new playground with my Ricoh GR. I had to roam a little over an hour in the streets of Saint-Denis, where I will work and also live. I was there very early and the streets were pretty deserted. We have to wait until 9:30 am to see the streets come to life.
Since I arrived, the weather is pretty capricious. To be honest, it was often cloudy and we even had some showers. But nothing really bad. We are on a tropical island and the sun reappears often after the showers ! This Tuesday morning, I had a lot of luck because the sun made meager appearances allowing me to play with the light. As in Aix-en-Provence, I am more comfortable now when the light is flat. Why ? Because I do not have to worry about where the sun comes from to take pictures. I just have to focus on the scenes to capture.
When I was in Aix-en-Provence, I knew my environment and it was quite simple to do Street Photography there. Here it is not yet the case. I do not know the city well yet or how people will react to my rather intrusive style. They will not react in the same way to my presence. Aix is a very touristy city and the presence of people with a camera passes almost unnoticed. Although there are also a lot of tourists in Reunion, they are not necessarily in the city of Saint-Denis which is not of great interest to people passing through the Island. My approach may be different at first to domesticate this city. It’s quite exciting but also intimidating. I might have run into another street photographer during my hour spent in the streets. There is no mistaking the signs. A shoulder bag and an analog DSLR screwed to the wrist. I did not dare to call him but I think I will run into him again in the streets of Saint-Denis …
The picture above is a failed one. You guess why, it was just a question of a few milliseconds when pressing the shutter. To be too close to people, that’s what happens … This woman is from the Comoros Islands, which are located in the north-west of Madagascar not far from Mayotte which is a French island. As you can guess, many Comorians fleeing the poverty of their islands try to pass on Mayotte to obtain the French nationality. For several years, there has been an increased presence of people of Comorian origin on the Island. This is not without generating quite a lot of tension with this community on the Island. I will not dwell on this delicate subject because it is not the object of this Blog. So we often meet women with these paintings on their faces. Reunion is a multi-cultural island. Several different ethnic groups live side by side without much problem. I still have to find the limits not to exceed so as not to offend these people. I keep a certain distance for the moment to evaluate their reactions to my presence.
Change is good. In Aix-en-Provence, I was at home. This change will force me to evolve, to do things differently to confront new type of people. Will it be harder to do Street Photography on Reunion Island ? It is difficult to answer this question because I spent just a little time in the streets of Saint-Denis. What is certain is that it will be different. What I did in Aix will serve me but I have to reinvent myself in relation to the context.
All the photographs were made with the Ricoh GR.
Since we returned from our vacation on Reunion Island last February, we are in an active phase for our move. Quasi military preparations to be ready in early July when all our stuff will leave in a container for the tropics. The house was on our minds and has generated a lot of stress. I had some work to finish for the sale of the house and the signing of the sales agreement was delayed because of a diagnosis that we lacked. It’s been a little over 10 days since we finally signed and we can finally focus on the cardboards …
We did not wait for the signature to start packing up eveything. It’s been a while since we sort our stuff to define what we’re going to keep and what we’re going to get rid of. And I can tell you that I have made trips back and forth to the dump … A lot of things have ended up in the dumpster and even more things have been recovered by an association that will surely recycle and sell what we do not need anymore. It feels good to empty. We tend to accumulate things, especially when we have a big house and room to store. We had already done a garage sale 3 years ago, but there was still a lot of useless things in the drawers and cupboards.
We have finally finished the sorting and it remains only to finish the boxes. We have the impression that there are still many things, but we still have 4 weeks to spend in the house. There is no point packing everything now. Especially children’s toys. The last weekends have been spent sorting in our business. Children do not really understand why we are so busy. We do not go out anymore because we have a lot to do. This weekend lasted 3 days with the Monday off. After working Saturday and Sunday on the move, we decided to take a break on Monday and take the kids out.
Direction Corbi Park which is 30 mins from us. This is not the first time we go there. There are some pens with birds (chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks …) but also rabbits, donkeys, goats. But what really interests children is the inflatable structures. and as the beautiful days are back, there are the water games. Unfortunately we had forgotten to take bathing suits. No worries, we sent them to have fun with their shorts while preserving their underpants and t-shirts for the return by car. They spent 4 hours having fun like crazy in the structures.
They spent most of their time in the structures ! It’s quite impressive thinking back because at no time there was weariness. It was non-stop slips for 3 hours. A good moment of release for them. We were happy to see them having fun. A little respite also for us because we had the head in the boxes for a while.
This Blog has a direct link with the previous one where I spoke to you about photographing children in the street. This is still the case here because I made many pictures of my children having fun, but also other children. Here, it was even more delicate than in the street because the little ones were in swimsuits, as at the beach. Some will say that I have no limit. I think it must be done respectfully. The thing is, it’s stronger than me. These are the situations that dictate my shot, not the fact that they are children or adults. There was action, laughter, color and tgehre were people ! When you do Street Photography, you do not wait to go out into town to do Street Photography. You do it anywhere ! This is the case for me. It’s a state of mind.
This photo above is my favorite of this day. Would you like to know if I was splashed ? Well, a little … As usual, I like to be very close to my subjects especially when there is water (I refer you to a previous blog about a Ricoh GRD 4 that would have taken a little the water …). I love this picture because there is energy and action. This photo sums up pretty well the atmosphere present around the structures during this day. My Ricoh GR works normally, finally for now …
All the photographs were made with the Ricoh GR.
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Ça y est, je m’atèle enfin à la rédaction de mon Blog sur mon court séjour parisien. Les souvenirs sont encore là mais j’ai l’impression que ça fait une éternité ! Paris c’était il y a 1 mois, mais entre temps beaucoup de choses se sont passées. Bristol a beaucoup occupé mon esprit et j’ai d’ailleurs rédigé un bon paquet de Blogs sur mon séjour en UK. Il faut dire que j’avais passé une semaine à ne faire que de la Street Photography. La dernière fois que j’avais fait ça, c’était à Liverpool il y a 3 ans … Continue reading Paris : Far away, so close …
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J’avais déjà écrit il y a longtemps un Blog sur ma façon de documenter la vie de ceux qui me sont chers. Depuis que j’ai commencé la Street Photography, j’ai une approche totalement différente quand je prends des photos de mes enfants, de ma femme ou encore de mes amis. Je ne les fais plus poser. Enfin la plupart du temps. Ça m’arrive encore de leur demander de prendre la pose, mais de moins en moins. D’ailleurs la dernière fois que j’ai demandé à Joachim mon grand de poser pour moi, il a fini par râler … Continue reading Documenting Memories.
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Nous en sommes à notre deuxième semaine de pluie. Après l’été indien qui s’est éternisé jusqu’au mois d’octobre, nous sommes entré de plein pied dans l’automne. Il fait encore relativement doux, mais la météo n’est vraiment pas engageante. Mes parents sont venus nous rendre visite. Ça leur fait bizarre car depuis qu’ils sont là, les sorties s’effectuent très souvent avec des parapluies. Nous avons néanmoins profité d’une journée pour aller au Zoo avec les enfants. Au menu, ciel plombé et de temps en temps, petit crachin. Continue reading A day at the Zoo.
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L’été n’est pas le moment où je passe le plus de temps dans les rues d’Aix-en-Provence. Les enfants sont en (très) longues vacances et mon temps de libre, je le passe avec eux. J’ai néanmoins eu l’opportunité de passer quelques heures pour faire un peu de Street. Ça y est c’est la rentrée depuis quelques jours avec son lot de nouveautés. Nouvelles classes pour les garçons, nouvelle école pour Ronan qui rejoint son frère chez les “Grands”, nouvelles maîtresses… Faut croire que la météo s’est mise au diapason pour signifier la fin de l’été. Nous avons encore de belles journées ensoleillées mais les températures ont chuté. Continue reading Summertime is over.
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La semaine dernière, on a profité d’une semaine chargée de jours fériés pour aller faire l’école buissonnière avec les enfants du côté de Porquerolles. C’est devenu un peu notre destination préférée du printemps. Nous avions déjà séjourné quelques jours l’année dernière à la même époque et les enfants étaient enchantés (le Blog ici). En plein été, cette destination est à proscrire … Beaucoup de trop de monde. L’île est envahie de touristes venus faire de la randonnée ou du vélo sur les centaines de kilomètres de pistes. Continue reading Porquerolles Part 1 : Family snapshots.
