Paris Parfait

More Merci

These photos are outtakes - pictures not published - from a magazine photo shoot at Merci, Paris. I wouldn't mind this gorgeous chandelier coming home with me.

Mannequins in the lounge/entranceway of Merci.

Isn't this chandelier featuring strings of wooden beads fabulous?

A comfy vintage leather chair and array of reading material.

Another chandelier and racks of designer clothes.

Yet another chandelier is suspended over a dining table.

 

More dining and accent tables at Merci, Paris.

Today at the bank, a young clerk was wearing shorts! Her off-black sheer tights couldn't disguise the fact that she was wearing short-shorts to work at a conservative bank. On the way home, I saw a heavily-made-up woman wearing a sheer blouse that was off her shoulder and nearly off her elbow, along with tight jeans and six-inch metallic gold heels. She was getting into a cab; surely walking more than a few blocks in those heels would be difficult.

In Passy, an elderly woman was tottering down the sidewalk in a short brown leather skirt and heels. Another woman of a certain age with bright orange-red hair was wearing a beret and a skirt well above her knees. She was carrying her little dog in a vintage Gucci handbag. Then I saw an older woman immaculately groomed, wearing a boucle wool Chanel suit to buy groceries.

Ah, the Parisienne women and their unique style! Spring is in full bloom. What's the fashion parade like in your city?

Letting go, while collecting

In my continuing bid to lighten the load, every day I take a book, a piece of art, a photograph or a household item out the door and leave it where someone will find it. Whatever the item, it's always gone when I walk past the spot on my way home.

But downsizing my household doesn't mean I no longer add to my collections. Au contraire! As you can see by the photos, I collect antique Bedouin, Palestinian and Jordanian jewelry. These necklaces are favourites purchased during recent trips to Jordan. The half-moon necklace (above) features double-sided Arabic inscriptions from the Koran, as well as teal-blue glass beads and antique coins. The pendant's heavy silver chain is handmade.

The necklace is photographed with a "1001 Nights" raw silk wall-hanging. It took six women from the Jordan River Foundation's textiles division six months to hand-stitch each section, then put it all together.

The Italian blue glass beads in the necklace at right are nearly 300 years old. This rare piece started out as traditional Arabic prayer or worry beads. When a baby was born into a family, more beads and silver pieces for good luck were added and the piece was transformed into a necklace. The photograph below shows a close-up of a Palestinian coin from 1942. Note the inscriptions in both Hebrew and Arabic, in less volatile times.

The necklace is photographed on top of a vintage Moroccan wedding blanket, courtesy of my lovely friend Maryam of My Marrakech. You can see her picture in the portraits section of my new photography website.

London

David and I are just back from a whirlwind trip to London. Thursday we raced around all day for business and errands. I had a fascinating conversation about the Sudan and the Middle East with an Ethiopian cab driver. I also saw a very tall model in a thin summer frock shivering in the cold at a photo shoot in Hyde Park.

After an early dinner in an Italian restaurant, David and I watched the recap of the British election debate, round two. On Friday, we visited family and a certain adorable ten-week-old baby.

Lunch was an excellent red pepper hummous flatbread with feta cheese at The Minnow in Weybridge, before racing off to catch yet another train (by the time we arrived in Paris, we'd ridden nine trains in one day).

Eurostar was packed, due to the backlog of passengers stranded when Icelandic ash halted European air traffic for six days. Even the jump seats between carriages were filled. At a specialist camera shop in London, the dealer told me he'd been booked to fly to Iceland to photograph the volcanic eruptions and celebrate a friend's upcoming nuptials. Instead, they went to Ireland. He said, "Change one letter in the name of the country and by the time we left, we didn't know the difference." In other words, they had quite the merry fete!

Paris

Back in Paris and nursing a sore throat, I watched War Photographer, the award-winning documentary about James Nachtwey. I was dismayed to read that Nachtwey's advertising for an UNPAID intern for three-months. No matter the experience an intern would gain from working with Nachtwey, the intern would have to pay his own room and board in New York - an expensive proposition by any stretch of the imagination.

In principle, I don't believe in unpaid internships. At the very least, interns should be paid a minimum wage, no matter how much valuable experience he or she might gain from working with a master photographer!

I also watched Annie Leibovitz's Life through a Lens, produced by her sister. Such a contrast between the ways Nachtwey and Leibovitz work. On the train to London, I read Susan Sontag's essays On Photography, which seem just as relevant today as when she wrote them in 1977.

My artist friend Lee is in Paris and if I can kick this cold to the curb, we're planning some photo jaunts at obscure spots around town. I also have a photographic essay to finish and a jaunt to Amsterdam to plan, as well as some routine doctor's appointments. Am hoping to catch up with your blogs, too!

What's keeping you busy and energised these days?

 

A Palestinian coin from 1942 is among silver talismans added to antique glass prayer beads.

Simplicity

Blind Bedouin woman in her tent near Kerak, Jordan. 

"Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough." - Charles Dudley Warner.

 

Photos are outtakes from a photographic essay on Bedouin women.

Every picture tells a story

Bedouin sheik with a tattooed arm near Kerak, Jordan.

 
Every picture tells a story. The sheik (pictured) is the head of a Bedouin tribe living in an abandoned village near Kerak, Jordan. The tribe moved from an encampment in the desert, after the heaviest rains in 50 years flooded much of the land. The sheik is starting a foundation to raise money for educating Bedouin children who, along with their families, tend to move home with the seasons.

One of the joys of photography is meeting fascinating people and hearing their stories. More and more these days, my photography is taking me to places I hadn't imagined. It's an exciting time, with unexpected doors opening and intriguing opportunities unfolding.

I am happy to announce that today my new photography website is live! Won't you stop by for a visit? You may recognize pictures of a couple of beautiful bloggers.

I've been working since February with Gerlof van Ek of VANEK Creative. Gerlof is a talented website designer and developer, based in Amsterdam. Check back often, as the website's collection of photographs will continually evolve.

P.S. Am off to London, sans ordinateur. Back with more posts this weekend.

Handmade

Seamstress at the textiles division workshop of the Jordan River Foundation, Amman.

Alas,this has proved to be one busy week and no time to blog! In between long lunches with visiting friends, photo editing and assignments, I've been working most nights until 3 a.m. Am loading photos on my new website, hoping it will be ready for launch on Monday Wednesday. Will resume my regular posting schedule very soon. Thanks for your patience and bon weekend!

In the moment

Monday afternoon, Paris.

"The living moment is everything." - D.H. Lawrence.

When walking down the hallway late this afternoon, I noticed sunlight reflected through slats in the wooden blinds. I was struck by the way light poured onto the pillow on the unmade (!) bed. I ran to grab my camera and got this shot just before the light faded.

It's been a busy day (hence the unmade bed). I've been working on a magazine article, plus photos for another magazine. On my way to the market, I encountered a film crew shooting footage at the hospital around the corner. It's all very hush-hush, with no photos allowed. But I shall keep an eye out for photo opportunities with my pocket camera.

Back soon with some outtakes from photo shoots in Paris. I have friends in town (as per usual in Paris in the springtime) and will be out and about with them, in between assignments. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Scenes from the Paris Marathon

Kenyan runner Vincent Kipruto won the Paris Marathon today in 2h 05' 47," topping the race record. Bayisa Atsede of Ethiopia won the women's division in 2h 24' 42."  Photos by David Holmes.

An Irish shamrock for luck on this smiling runner's hat.

Musicians wait in front of Roland Garros, home of the French Open Tennis Championship.

Onlookers cheer the runners.

Oxygen.

 

Only a Frenchman could pull off this risque outfit!

All photos by David Holmes.

Comfort and caves

 

Caves and dwellings in the ancient Nabatean city of Petra, Jordan.

It's been a week since I've found the opportunity to post. I've been busy putting out administrative fires and sorting priorities. I've spent some time cocooning at home in my "cave," sorting through closets and possessions and shedding excess. It seems I have a number of expensive handbags, mainly because in Paris, the clothes are too small to consider. So over the last ten years, I've purchased a disproportionate amount of well-made handbags, shoes and scarves.

 

Besides culling possessions in preparation for the move to Amsterdam, I've been re-examining my work commitments and obligations. Consequently I decided to turn down an amazing project, working with talented individuals on two continents. Despite its long-term promise and opportunities to travel, something about the project didn't feel right for me. Finally, I concluded I simply couldn't devote the time and energy required to meet others' expectations and guarantee success. Almost immediately, it felt as though a huge weight had lifted from my shoulders.

I spent an afternoon with a charming woman who sells antiques and vintage collectibles from her lovely Parisien abode. (Watch for an upcoming post). My blogging friend Lisa and I had lunch on Ile Saint-Louis. Over (sadly under-cooked) chicken Caesar salads, we commiserated about the myriad challenges of life in Paris, especially the lackadaisical parcel delivery service from carriers UPS, DHL and Chronopost.

This week I've edited hundreds of photos taken during my recent trip to Jordan and worked on a photo essay for an American magazine. I've also been working with a Dutch web designer on my photography website. I can hardly wait until it's finished! What a pleasure working with a professional, after my previous bad experience with a web designer.

I read Alexandra Penney's The Bag Lady Papers and finished Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage.

I found Penney's book annoying; while she lost her savings after investing with jailed financier Bernard Madoff, she keeps referring to herself as having lost everything. But she still has her New York apartment and another property (she sold a third), so is hardly poverty-stricken. I find it difficult to summon much sympathy for her. Many other people reacted similarly, judging by the heated responses to Penney's columns in Tina Brown's The Daily Beast.

But Penney is right about women's concerns about ending up old, alone and poor. Many, many accomplished and successful women I know share Penney's "bag lady" fears (designer handbags or not).

Elizabeth Gilbert's book is a lively account of how she and her Brazilian partner were "forced" by Homeland Security to marry. Committed chronicles their emotional - and cross-continental - journey while manuevering a maze of bureaucratic red tape, reconciling their beliefs and finally, tying the knot. 

Sunday is the Marathon de Paris, as well as the Paris-Roubaix cycling tour. It's also this spring's first big horse-racing event at Hippodrome de Longchamp. So I expect to be out with my camera, experimenting with action shots. What are your plans for a (hopefully) sunny Sunday?

Joyeuses Pâques

Lanterns, murals and mosaics in the historic Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, Madaba, Jordan.

 

Happy Easter to you and yours.

Easter blessings

My late grandmother Lucille had a curious collection of porcelain and ceramic animal figurines. As a small child, I was thrilled when she gave me this porcelain rooster, made in Japan. For a while, she looked after it at her house. But after the rooster lost its head - probably thanks to my rambunctious little brothers forever racing through rooms at breakneck speed - heavy-duty glue mended the break and the rooster came home with me.

What seemed so special about the rooster - other than it being a present from my grandmother - I can't imagine. But somehow that rooster has survived the years and now it's with me in Paris. I keep it in a cupboard, as it's definitely not my taste. But I can't bring myself to throw it away, because of the connection to my grandmother. Ridiculous, I know: we don't need material things to remind ourselves of our loved ones.

As a child growing up in the South, Easter Sunday was a big production. We wore new dresses and sometimes hats to church. We dyed Easter eggs and filled our be-ribboned and fake-grass-filled baskets with eggs found in backyard egg hunts. We gave each other chocolate bunnies and eggs and played silly games. Some friends received real baby chicks, dyed in shades of pink or green. Of course, they quickly lost interest, sealing the fate of the little "pets."

As a teenager, I sang in the choir at the First Presbyterian Church, where we performed special music for Easter, including my favorite, Joseph Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ. Wherever I live, I try to attend an Easter church service. The most memorable was an open-air sunrise service with my daughter Jordana at Mount Nebo, Jordan. It is said to be the place where Moses first glimpsed the Promised Land, as well as where he later died. Some Biblical scholars believe the prophet Jeremiah hid the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant on Mount Nebo.

Wherever you are this Easter (or Passover), hope your weekend is happy and enriched with blessings!

Chairs with needlepoint pillows at St. Mary's, Oxford, England.

 

A bookcase of hymnals at St. Mary's and late-afternoon shadows on the stairs.

Happy, happy. Joy, joy.

"Happy, happy, joy, joy" was an oft-repeated tagline from the American cartoon series on Nicklelodeon "The Ren and Stimpy Show." The program was popular when my daughter was growing up and seems appropriate for April Fool's Day, long a tradition for fun and harmless pranks.

These images are from our Journey to Jordan in March. Tala, the eight-year-old girl pictured at right, lives with her family near Kerak. The laughing baby, Yara, lives in Amman. She is the daughter of William, a friend and my driver when in Jordan.

The young boys joking around are from Ghor, near the Dead Sea; as is the woman laughing and hiding her face behind her hand.

The photo of the smiling family members was snapped in Petra. The two women sharing a joke work at the wool dyeing center for the Bani Hamida Women's Weaving Project on Bani Hamida Mountain.

The image of the beautiful Gillian da Silva of Toronto was taken at dinner in a Bedouin tent in Beidna, near Petra. The photos of Jordan's top photographer Zohrab taking pictures of the lovely Renee Binkowski of San Francisco and her tattoo - and clowning around in the second image - were shot in Petra.

The last photo is of Renee and Christine Mason Miller laughing on Bani Hamida Mountain.

Whatever pranks and practical jokes come your way, hope you have an April Fool's Day full of fun and laughter!