In David Byrne’s movie “True Stories” there’s a music video to the song “Wild, Wild Life.” Chad’s gravity defying stunts and Liz’s jumps made me think of Wild, Wild Life. The problem with stunts in the limited space of our dance room/photo studio is that both Chad and Liz jumped so high that they got above where I was framing the photos in several shots.
One of our Christmas gifts to Liz and Chad was a photo shoot. The photo session happened this afternoon, and while it got quite wild with dancing, jumping, and gravity defying poses, I’m posting serious photos for a proper introduction. Liz is Laurie’s youngest sister and Chad is her husband. They were married in August.
The sky was overcast and gray all day for solstice, which reminded me of Paris. Looking through my photos taken from a riverboat on our last day in Paris back in June, I noticed that there was lots of love along the Seine despite the gray sky and rain.
I am posting my blog very late today, because I got home late from the fire. The flamenco studio on the end of our block caught on fire yesterday afternoon and it turned into a major fire that threatened the rest of the block. Patrician Design was the most immediately threatened business, and fortunately the firewall between PD and the flamenco studio held. Our offices above Gold Street Cafe got a lot of smoke, but late, after they had the fire out and the power was restored, I opened up the office for some firemen and women who brought a big fan in and blew out as much of the smoke as the could from those offices. While they were blowing smoke out of the offices upstairs, I went downstairs and got all the servers fired back up. After that, the fire marshal gave me permission to secure the office, set the alarms and go home. The photos show the progression of the fire and the last photos are of Patti of Patrician Design celebrating that her boutique didn’t burn down. The fire caused a lot of excitement and anxiety for what started out to be a rather lazy afternoon.
Does anyone remember Marcel Duchamp’s found art? The urinal he simply signed “R. Mutt 1917” was discussed it my art, art history, photo and photo history classes when I was a geography/photography student some 30 years ago. We finally got to see it in person at the Pompidou Center in Paris in June. Even though this piece was quite popular among the art professors and art students at the university, I didn’t have to hold my camera above crowds of admiring people to get a photo of Duchamp’s porcelain masterpiece, as Laurie pointed out. I could actually touch it as there were no barriers around it, alarms to set off or even a guard in the room.
I find it interesting how digital cameras, and using cell phones to do photos, has changed the way people photograph each other, the attractions they visit, and themselves. I took most of these photos of people photographing each other, or taking a break from photographing each other, at the Musée d’Orsay. I like the photos in B&W because they have a 60’s look with people using modern digital cameras and phones to do their photos and then check out the results.
Streets of Paris, crucifix in Notre Dame, and some interesting architecture. Paris, France, June 2013
Nothing like a horse drawn carriage to back up traffic on Corrales Road.
I don’t think this lovely scarecrow is very scary, but she does cut a good hay figure. Fall is in the air — I saw a couple of sandhill cranes fly over this morning, so I went out to the river before sunset and a small flock flew by. The problem is the river is running really high and fast, so the places they normally roost are underwater. The Martinez House got its color coat, and the cottonwoods are turning yellow.
I gave Laurie a gift card to get her hair colored and styled for her birthday. Since she’s studying Old Norse, her inner Viking pushed her into going for the lighter red in her hair, so now my beautiful wife is a Viking redhead. Like Gorm in the Icelandic Sagas, I might not be considered the wisest among men, but we were both wise enough to marry beautiful women. His wife, Thyri, was considered Denmark’s Adornment. My wife, Laurie, I consider my Crown Jewel of Corrales.
Off Center & Not Even 