This Blog will soon be 5 years old. It also corresponds to my practice of Street Photography. It seems to me that Michael Ernest Sweet had written that it was after seven years that one mastered his subject. I’m not sure this is true … don’t think I have nothing more to learn by now, but I think a lifetime would not be enough for me to say that I have mastered what I do . When I think about it anyway, I’ve come a long way since I posted my first photos on the 500px platform. I remember like it was yesterday and I can tell it was crap. Hyper contrasted Black & White photos without any real interest. I’m not going to show you examples but you can take my word for it. Continue reading Go against the flow …→
I have already told you about this state of mind that drives me when I photograph my own children. It’s stronger than me and I try to photograph them as I photograph people in the street. I have exactly the same approach, keeping the candid feel. I don’t like posed photos because I never get them. Some are good at it, not me … Last week, I went with a group of 22 young people for two days for a mini road trip in a minibus. The opportunity for me to take pictures, while I was weaned lately with Ronan’s injury (Moreover, he is much better!). Continue reading Street Mindset→
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→
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 … Continue reading Revisiting 2016 & 2017→
It’s been a while since I have made an article to share these photos that take dust on my hard drive. I decided to group them over a period of 2 months because the month of February was quite chaotic for me. I had a lumbago at the gym and I was inactive. Basically I dragged myself like a big rag between my job and my home. Apart from that, I was most often lying on my bed because the standing and even sitting position was quite painful. I reassure you right away, I have recovered my back for a few weeks and it is much better. What come out again to take photos ? Continue reading What you haven’t seen : january & february 2020→
That’s it we are in 2020 ! I hope that you all had a good holiday season and if it was rather lame, well you must be happy to have it behind you … A new year often rhymes with resolutions. None of this for me, just the distant prospect of having my qualification this year to be able to work on my own without an instructor by my side. We should also move into our new home by the end of February. In fact 2020 promises to be as busy as 2019 on my side … Continue reading What you haven’t seen : November & December 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. Continue reading Looking back to the year 2019→
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→
This slideshow has been available for two weeks already on my YouTube channel. I had not yet had the time to write a Blog to present it. You’ll see, it’s a small selection of photos. It will not take you much time to browse it … Since I returned from France, I did not spend much time doing photos. My mind is busy with something else and I do not have enough mental readiness to do Street Photography. And yet it would be a moment that I could give myself to nod my head. I found another way to let off steam after my days of work. I go to the gym. So what did I stop photography ?
Not really. As I keep saying, there is a time for everything. It will always be time to get back to it later. At the moment I am trying to acclimate myself to Reunion. When you have spent more than 20 years in the same place in France, it is not anything to move to a new place. And yet “this new place”, I was born there and I lived there when I was young. At the moment, I live in Saint-Denis but I do not consider myself at home yet. It’s funny because I’m not really from Jouques because we sold our house there, but I’m still not really from Saint-Denis. On the job side, I still have to pass my qualification that will allow me to work alone. For the moment, I am learning. It’s quite funny to be trained by people who are younger than me, but I live it pretty well. I do not have a problem with that. I have always considered that competence has no age.
I celebrated at the beginning of the month my birthday. My wife asked me jokingly what it was like to be 46 years old. I just told him that at 45, I was qualified and I had a house when at 46, I found myself in apprenticeship and I had no house … I know very well that this this situation is temporary and that in a year’s time things will have changed and I will find my very dear routine. I need this to free my mind and to include Street Photography. When I’m in the car, I can not stop scanning what’s happening around me. I do not have a camera with me, but my eyes are training to see situations that I could photograph. I do some sort of mental Street Photography without a camera …
To be honest, the only times I go out now are during my lunch breaks, my little errands or bringing the kids to their extracurricular activities. I have not yet seen what I did in November for the next What you have not seen, but it may be summed up to one or two photos ! In the meantime, I leave you with the very thin selection of this month of October !
