Paris Parfait

Thankful.

Woman sifting grain at her family farm outside Bungamati, Nepal.

 

"From those to whom much is given; much is expected." - President John F. Kennedy

Even in these challenging times, we all have some tender mercies to appreciate. On this Thanksgiving, I am happy that my daughter is able to spend the holiday visiting her grandparents and cousins. And of course I have many other reasons for which to be thankful!

In the Netherlands - where it's not a holiday - we're planning to eschew the traditional Thanksgiving turkey for Rick Stein's spicy fish curry. Since it's proved quite the unpredictable year - with many unexpected twists and turns - David and I are not really in the mood for our usual Thanksgiving turkey, cranberry-and-orange stuffing, roast potatoes and sweet potato pie. After all, counting one's blessings doesn't require a specific menu.

Wherever you are - and whatever's on your table - wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Outside my window...

The view from our balcony: the local grey heron, perched on a branch in a giant willow tree. The tree lost dozens of branches in the recent storms that felled trees in England, the Netherlands and much of Northern Europe.

"I spy, with my little eye..." Remember the childhood game, particularly useful on long road trips, while your parents drove?

Click photos to view detail. Images shot with the SonyA55 - a little camera that packs a big punch. I bought it a couple of years ago, to pop into my handbag when I didn't want to carry my "serious" (and heavy) camera gear. But the A55 languished in a drawer until recently, when I began experimenting with its lightning-fast continuous shooting modes. It's not a camera I'd use on assignment, but it's good for walking-around and experimenting with video, etc.

Girl in red hat 'kidnapped' by Alaska marketing company

Longtime readers of this site will remember this 2009 photo of "The girl in the red hat," a 1920s child mannequin found at Porte de Clignacourt, Paris. I purchased the mannequin and brought it home to our Paris apartment. So imagine my dismay upon discovering that "Lucy" had been kidnapped!

Yes, it's true! A staffer at Northwest Strategies - a "marketing, public relations and advertising agency" based in Anchorage, Alaska - absconded with my copyrighted and watermarked photo of Lucy. The staff member deliberately stripped the watermark and altered the photo. As if that weren't bad enough, the altered photo then was posted on Northwest Strategies' commercial website. And the company used my copyrighted photo to market their services!

Poor Lucy in an altered state on a commercial site. Click photo to view detail.

 

In compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, on September 18th, 2013 I filed a Cease and Desist order with the company's site and server hosts, after email to Northwest Strategies went unanswered. On September 20th, an executive from the company that hosts the Northwest Strategies website (but is not responsible for its content) advised that he personally removed the photo. Further, he said he asked Northwest Strategies to find a different hosting provider. He wrote, "...I wanted to notify you personally that it (the DMCA notice) had been addressed. Stealing people's stuff isn't cool."

Disappointingly, it seems Northwest Strategies does not share his respect for someone else's original work.

A losing strategy for Northwest Strategies

The thumbnail of my photo finally was removed from the Northwest Strategies website on October 9th, after numerous requests. But Northwest Strategies continues to ignore invoices for unauthorized and unlicensed commercial use of my work. On October 15th, I informed Chris Munroe, the company's vice president of business development, that I would ask my attorney to take legal action against Northwest Strategies for copyright infringement and photo theft.

On October 16th, Munroe emailed: "...I have been authorized to pay $300 for the photo. That is the going rate for photos we purchase. Will you accept that offer?  I can resolve the matter by the end of the week." The fee Munroe proposed was a 70 percent discount from the standard photo license fee I'd requested - NOT a standard compensation fee. But I foolishly agreed to accept the reduced amount, simply to expedite resolution and move forward.

Apparently I was the only one acting in good faith. Over a month later, there is no evidence to suggest Northwest Strategies has made any attempt to make payment. Instead, over a period of weeks, Northwest Strategies has provided one implausible excuse after another about being unable to get Paypal to work, etc.  When I suggested the company wire the funds directly to my bank account, Munroe advised he "would not pay a money-wiring fee." And he seemed unable to grasp why I wouldn't accept a paper check-in-the-mail (several reasons come to mind, but one key factor is that checks don't exist in Dutch banking).

Munroe told me "...you're (sic) communication is becoming somewhat harassing," because I dared question ludicrous claims about why the company has yet to pay compensation. Munroe's accusation is a bit rich - especially considering that Northwest Strategies stole my copyrighted work, then engaged in various tactics to delay or avoid paying compensation.

It appears Northwest Strategies wrongly considers it can violate copyright law with impunity. And the  Northwest Strategies  employee who stole my photo, removed the watermark and altered it hasn't bothered to apologize. Yet the company offers "marketing, public relations and advertising" advice to other businesses??!! Caveat emptor.

Update Dec. 3: Northwest Strategies finally has paid a $300 fee - but not before a last email from Munroe claiming their problems with Paypal were somehow my fault (no one else has a problem sending or receiving funds via my Paypal account) and chastising me for an "aggressive nature."   Never mind that it was Northwest Strategies that stole MY photo - and it took two-and-a-half months and 48 emails - including invoices - to get the company to pay nominal compensation. And still no apology.

Spending so much time and effort trying to get Northwest Strategies to do the right thing was wasted from a financial perspective. But the principle of holding the company accountable for violating my copyright was why I kept fighting.

Angel wings

Angel wings, Merci, Paris.

 

"I'm no angel, but I've spread my wings a bit. " Mae West

A birthday wish

A profusion of flowers at Merci, Paris.


Today is my husband David's birthday. It's been a tough year health-wise, but he is looking and feeling much better and stronger. Here's hoping this day marks the beginning of a happy - and healthy - year ahead!

"It takes a long time to become young." - Pablo Picasso

More office space glimpses

Here are more glimpses into my workspace (aka "how to cram a lot of stuff into a small space.)" I got a contractor's estimate to demolish these built-in shelves - and the large walk-in closet behind them - as I disliked their dated louvered doors. But after the contractor left, I removed the doors and decided the shelves could work - at least for a while - if I edged them in black paint, like eyeliner.

The Eames molded plywood chair is a 20th-century American design icon, as is the Louis Poulsen suspension light from Denmark.



The rare 19th-century French pharmacy cabinet (with a glass door that slides up and down) contains vintage and antique pharmacy bottles and lab instruments collected while living in Paris. African porcupine quills, French perfume-makers' test tubes and thermometers from Grasse, as well as other scientific vessels and beakers are included in the display.

In our Dutch canal house, I couldn't find a suitable spot to hang the pharmacy cabinet. Reluctantly, I'd decided to sell it, until I discovered it fit in this space. Eventually, I expect to sell both the cabinet and its contents (I often sell things to make room for something else). But the pharmacy cabinet reminds me of Practical Magic and alchemy and scientific discovery and healing, so for now it remains here.

The Christian Lemaire 1958 photograph of a model on a balcony in Paris is signed. I put a vintage Eiffel Tower beneath a glass funnel, which echoes the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Next to the funnels are 1903 French Art Nouveau Baedeker guides to Paris and Northern France, found at my friend Joan's wonderful store Timeless Treasures during my last trip "home" to San Francisco!

The bookshelves also contain inspiring photography books, journals, vintage French baskets and wooden boxes, as well as bundles of love letters, written by a French soldier to his sweetheart during World War II.

Vintage American typewriters top an "alphabet" chest, handmade by Luke Ellis in Whitstable, England. The classic Arne Jacobsen floor lamp is from Denmark. The early 20th-century typeface tray on the wall is from the University of Delft, while the letters displayed are all from France. Above the tray is an original Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph of the Bois de Boulogne (just across the street from our old neighbourhood) in Paris. The oil painting of Santa Fe at dusk is by Greg Moon of Taos, New Mexico. The emerald-and-silver cross was handmade by a jeweler in Savannah, Georgia.

A set of file drawers from Attic in England is next to an 1885 French "Pigeon" lamp and an antique iron book press from Scotland.

More images coming soon! Meanwhile, see additional office photos here, here and here.

Vignettes.

Voila - vignettes from my office! French file boxes circa 1905 are stacked on a 19th-century mercantile cabinet. The antique brass postal scale is from Paris. A copy of "The Paris Issue" of the gorgeous French book Magazine Antidote rests on the Napoleon III chair.

The wirework magazine racks are from Finland. Among the items included are Le Corbusier's Poeme de l'angle Droit and my friend Pia's latest book Petits Tresors. The framed vintage photograph is of Edward Curtis. But in January, we're knocking this wall down, to combine the "light room" next door and my office into one big space.



Vintage Art Deco cameras on a bookshelf (I'm still searching for the blue version!) I had the great privilege to hear fearless and controversial Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci speak about her work at New York's 92nd Street "Y." She was famous for her combative political interviews with the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shah of Iran, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat and other notable 20th-century newsmakers.

As a correspondent at the United Nations and in the Middle East, I also interviewed Arafat and other key political figures and diplomats of the era. But Fallaci was a force to behold; even her detractors admired her nerve and determination.



A rare 18th-century hand-beaded purse from Paris and a garnet-marcasite-and-silver cross necklace handmade by my friend Vanessa.



The lantern was a gift from my daughter at age eight, upon her return from a trip with her grandmother.



Raku pottery made by Riley Salyards in Amsterdam.



Vintage spools of silk thread from Paris, stored in a retro-inspired jar from a delightful Attic in England.



18th-century French paperback books, topped by a suede flower and leaf. The latter was handmade by my daughter Jordana, now a fashion designer in the U.S.

Check back soon for more photos from my office. Won't you post photos of your own creative space? If so, please notify me via the comments.

Rebellion.

Splashes of colour, in riotous rebellion against the grey and gloomy fringe of winter... Click images to view detail.

Personally, I think a little rebellion is good for the soul.





"Every woman is a rebel." - Oscar Wilde

Voluptuous lilies at quiet rebel Jane Austen's house, Chawton, England.

Bright blooms in the garden at Chawton.

A concerted rebellion against telecom giants Verizon, AT&T and Comcast might be advisble, if we lose Net Neutrality - and the Internet as we know it!

Jane Austen's piano

Jane Austen's piano, Chawton, England, with sheet music for Muzio Clementi's Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 3. If you visit Jane Austen's house at Chawton, you might have the opportunity to play her piano! Click images to view detail.



"Where words fail, music speaks." - Hans Christian Andersen



Music in my world today: Dvorak's Largo, from the New World Symphony, played by the Dublin Philharmonic.

Reading: Donna Tartt's remarkable new book The Goldfinch.

Watching: 1) Collected films of Wallender, the Swedish crime thriller series starring Krister Henriksson, Ola Rapace and the late Johanna Sällström and 2) Sebastian Junger's documentary tribute to photographer Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Libya: "Which way is the front line from here?"

Admiring: Here, Far Away - Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti's evocative, award-winning images and photographer Nick Brandt's achingly beautiful Across the Ravaged Land.