Saturday, June 25, 2011

Prix de Diane . . . Take Four !

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Back by popular demand, without further ado, more hats from the Prix de Diane, Chantilly, France, 12 June, 2011. The hats just went on and on and on. What is presented here in this and the previous three posts is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Need I say more ? Perhaps not. Enjoy.
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For a moment I thought I was looking at Catherine Deneuve . . . 
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Ain't she . . .
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This is about as minimalist a hat as there is . . .
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I guess with a haircut like this, no hat is required . . . or maybe it was a hat ???
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Wait a second, how did he get in here ???
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Anyone ready for a drink after all that ?
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And the horses kept thundering by . . .
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37 comments:

Pat Tillett said...

Wow! Great photos of beautiful hats and the beautiful ladies wearing them (and one man).
really nice...

Lynne with an e said...

Well this set truly makes up a Fab Four!
Far too many great captures to comment on individually here. You've outdone yourself, Mr. Toad.
Clearly, someone was feeling just like a kid in a candy shop, drooling at all those sweets!
Absolutely enchanting, and beautifully orchestrated by the repetition of the thundering hooves.

Suze said...

I think I like 5, 9 and 11 best. Though I like the look on the face of the woman with the stars in the red straw hat.

Stickup Artist said...

I like the camera lady behind the curtain and the blond hairdo lady the best. I have never seen so many wonderful portraits coming out of one event by a single photographer. One or two and you could call it luck or a fluke, but so many, it speaks to a great talent, passion, and timing for this genre. I'm still saying, a website or portfolio built from this event would garner many a booking!

Steve said...

I really am going to have to get me a ferry ride to France sometime soon...

Laurie said...

Great stuff, Owen. I particularly liked the candid shot of the woman in white looking at her camera monitor to check her candid shot of you came out all right. What a tale she will have to tell her family - the day she met the famous society photographer!

I knew a Tatler photographer once (also once a D-Day photographer). Your work here equals his standard and often surpasses it. Brilliant!

pRiyA said...

Looks like somebody really really REALLY enjoyed himself :-)
Don't you men wish you could dress up as imaginatively too?

pRiyA said...

ps: I simply loved some of the witty and funny comments in the last post.

Marginalia said...

Ah, Le Pain of the Crunch de Credit, L'Age de Austerity, La Skid Row et Sur Mon Uppers: all winners at this year's Chantilly Races.

mythopolis said...

This women's hat theme has been quite entertaining!! I hope you will go on to other related themes...high heels, fishnet stockings, various under garments, and so on!! : )

Mimi said...

Some rally fabulous hats here. I enjoyed looking at them.
Love the pic of lemons and limes too!

Anonymous said...

Well, this has been a very professional coverage of the fashion and horses at the event. I think the ladies especially appreciate the great shots of the hats. But, say, does your wife know that you spend your time stalking and photographing beautiful women?

Crosby Kenyon said...

It's been a great show, and I'll wager it's difficult to run up to the homestretch..

The Sagittarian said...

Oh yes, out me in for a drink with all of that...plus those hats! How fabulous are they!! I want one so that when I toddle off down the road to empty the 'loo I will look so exotic that people won't avert their eyes or cross the street...

Patricia said...

Don't stop now, sir.

Pastelle said...

C'est vraiment superbe !
Dis, as tu déjà songé à faire photographe de mode ? Ca te va bien !

Anonymous said...

Ohh j'aurais vraiment adoré faire un reportage photo avec toi!!!!!! Toutes ces dames aux beaux chapeaux, c'est vraiment un sujet intéressant!!!!!

J'aime particulièrement ta 9ème photo, de nos. Un beau graphisme de la robe et chapeau superbe. Juste dommage que la partie droite soit légèrement coupée.

Bon dimanche!

Chrys

clo said...

Je te tire mon chapeau Owen :o)
Quelle panoplie de couvre chefs ,j'en suis toute chose...
Je m'imagine tres mal avec un édifice pareil au sommet du crane, mais j'admire le cote creatif de ces oeuvres d'art..Un magnifique reportage...
Jvais travailler du chapeau moi avec tout ça...:o)
des gros bizz en passant cher Ami ...:o)

Nevine Sultan said...

I am especially fond of the red hat in photo 3... and I also love the white hat with the red and pink flowers... and that haircut... atrocious! You don't know her, do you?

But all the shots are lovely and colorful and inviting. I hope you enjoyed taking them as much as I enjoyed looking at them. But then, that's a given, isn't it?

Have a brilliant week, Owen!

Nevine

Owen said...

Hi Pat, a big thank you... no shortage of beauty out there... shining all around us...

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Lynne, for sure, the kid in a candy shop image occurred to me more than once out there... and I needed a bib for all the drooling going on... and bib overhauls...
:-)
I wonder how people like Patrick Demarchelier take care of the issue ? Maybe they put cotton wadding in their mouths, the same stuff dentists use, to keep the drooling under control ?
:-)
It's a terrible thing, to be a lover of fine arts, a lover of beauty, wherever one finds it, but then to be expected to remain poker faced and polite and all when confronted with it in the field like this... but you will be happy to know, I behaved myself in quite a noble manner... la Grenouille is still talking to me...
:-)

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Hi Suze, glad you found some you liked in this latest batch... the orange hat with stars was something else again. I observed her for a little while, she seemed to be quite an animated character... with a penchant for big colorful hats !

Owen said...

Hi Stickup... you are too kind by far, but I love it when you talk like that... Well, I've written to two magazines, but no answers yet. At least the work is out in the public eye, we'll see, we'll see... before the blog it would have simply sat on a hard drive and on back ups, or in a drawer somewhere. Today people in Venezuela, Moscow, Greece, Serbia, England, US, China, from all over the place saw them... so I guess that's progress...

PS I saw a mule today, a real sweetheart, and took a picture of him just for you... will post it soon...

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Steve ! Come on down ! A ferry ticket doesn't cost much... and Paris is ready and waiting for you to arrive !

****************************

Laurie, am smiling... the Tattler, now that is a bar that will be tough to get over...
:-)
Many many thanks...

Owen said...

Hi Priya !
Yes, absolutely, it is terribly unfair that women are allowed, even expected to go forth into the world as works of art, while men are resigned and relegated to wearing mostly drudgery, in comparison, unless one happens to be a rock star... yes, I guess I've been jealous of that aspect of the fairer sex since I was quite young... but making photographs is perhaps the next best thing...
:-)

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Marginalia, those names are certainly signs of the times, even the rich are getting nervous. It doesn't look like we are out of the financial woods by a long shot. Our governments and international banks have been living in some sort of drunken dream world where money grows on trees and resources are infinite. The hangover is going to be brutal when the wake up call comes... which it will.

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Dear Myth... now that is serious food for thought. Perhaps this was just a start along new lines... I wonder if any of my hat models here would have been willing to pose in scantier attire ??? Hmm, I sort of doubt it... but one never knows... Then again, la Grenouille didn't mind me doing a collection of hat photos, but I'm not so sure she would be as amenable if it were to be a collection of brassieres... But hey, maybe I could start with shoes ? There are certainly an infinity of exotic shoes to be seen walking around Paris...
:-)

Owen said...

Hi Mimi, thanks a million... and yes, the lime juice goes nicely with a spot of vodka...

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Dear LGS, see above response to Mythopolis, la Grenouille was ok with me photographing hats, remember, it was the hats I was photographing, I really couldn't help it if some of the hats that caught my eye happened to be attached to the heads of some rather attractive women... But again, I was focusing purely on the amazing hats out there...
:-)

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Hi Crosby, if you mean, was it difficult to tear myself away from all the hats to photograph and go run up to the rail to catch the horses going by, yes, absolutely, it was sheer torture, but then, again, I had a deal with la Grenouille, I was photographing hats and horses, and a few picnic spreads .... nothing else was going on...
:-)

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Dearest Saj, I'm sure we can find you a drink around here, the champagne was flowing by the bathtub; and yes, almost any of these hats would be the perfect diversion disguise for your rambles out on the street to tidy up behind nature's necessity calls... Be well... this can't last forever...

Owen said...

Hi Patricia, well, for the time being this fourth post will be the last one for a while on the Prix de Diane, I've published all that was really fit to print... will be moving on to other subjects, and past haunts, but there will be another Prix de Diane next year, and with a little luck, I'll be out there... Thanks so much in any case !

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Bonjour Pastelle ! pour vrai dire, non, je n'en avais jamais songé, cela me semblait, et me semble, tellement inaccessible comme monde... pense au film, The Devil Wears Prada... mais bon, qui sait où la vie va mener ? Au moins les photos sont là, sur une page publique... s'il y a assez de reactions positives, qui sait, qui sait. Mais bon, l'important, je pense, c'est que c'était une belle journée, un beau cadre, et les chapeaux étaient fabuleuses, je me suis amusé comme un fou... merci...

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Hi Chrys, je suis sûr que tu aurais aimé cet journée au Prix... peut-être l'année prochaine ? TGV à Paris, Gare de Lyon, metro à la Gare du Nord, train régional à Chantilly, à pied cinq minutes de la Gare de Chantilly au Hippodrome, c'est tout près... On pourrait préparer un grand picnic cette fois, pour se raffraichir un peu entre sorties photos... Ah, et oui, number nine, legèrement coupé, éffectivement, ce n'est pas facile dans de tels circonstances de composer tranquilement une photo, les gens bougent tellement vite, si on ne travaille pas plus ou moins vite, on risque de louper plein de choses... mais comme toi, j'adore le mélange de tons de marron, et être légèrement bronzée ne gache rien n'en plus...
:-)

Owen said...

Bonjour Nevine...
Oh, yes, absolutely, I most certainly enjoyed taking these, hopefully as much as you enjoyed seeing them... it was a rare challenge to try to get photos that captured the spirit of the afternoon, while not pestering anyone nor being too obnoxious... I walked kilometres around the site and had to be very alert for very short windows of opportunity... and no, I didn't know any of the people who appear here... And yes, that haircut, was really something. Actually, I have to admit, I sort of like it finally, I think it is the sheer audacity of it which pleases me...
:-)

Unknown said...

I could live in your blog! Love. It.

Owen said...

Dear Distracted... the rent is high, but the living is good...
;-)

sha-ne-no said...

Moi qui suis fan de chapeaux... (et n'ose pas en porter !) je me régale de ton billet ! Les photos sont belles...

Samantha

nathalie said...

Ah ça méritait bien un quatrième post - il aurait été trop dommage que ces photos-là ne sortent pas de tes cartons.... cartons à chapeau bien sûr !

Je suis épatée par la variété des chapeaux, par la qualité de tes photos aussi.

Le plus étonnant : celui en fatras de dentelle rose qui ressemble à un rideau de douche ramené en tas sur la tête (6ème avant la fin). Quelle horreur ! Je suis heureuse pour elle qu'on ne voie pas son visage, j'aurais eu honte pour elle. Pour les autres, souvent beaucoup de charme et d'élégance.

Merci pour cette sublime collection. Si jamais tu ne choisis pas de refaire un 5ème billet sur ce thème, vivement l'année prochaine pour que tu recommences !

Owen said...

Bonjour Samantha, merci beaucoup, peut-être un jour tu trouveras un chapeau qui te fait tellement plaisir que tu osera le porter... ça doit exister quelque part, un chapeau que tu aimeras, sinon, il faudrait le créer...

Owen said...

Ah Nathalie... tu me fais sourire... bon, et oui, j'aurais été frustré sans ce quatrième billet, mais ça c'est vraiment la fin des photos qui pourraient valoir d'être présentées ici... il faut faire beaucoup d'images moyennes voire complètement ratées pour avoir une qui tient la route, et là, c'est la fin, jusqu'à l'année prochaine. Tu pourrais monter d'Avignon en juin prochain ? Je pense que tu aimerais le spectacle de chapeaux ici... ça vaut vraiment le détour...

Attention aux rideaux de douche volants ! Parfois ils peuvent vous surprendre et s'accrocher à votre chapeau à votre insu...
:-)

Amanda Summer said...

these are gorgeous images, owen.......and the hats! tres jolie et chic!!

and that woman DOES look like Catherine Deneuve......

Dee Newman said...

Hats!?! Who's looking at the hats . . . Great post!

Owen, you've captured some wonderful portraits of some mighty attractive women beneath those head coverings.

Karine A said...

J'ai cherché en vain ton article sur Newark, comme je n'ai pas trouvé j'ai pris un drink, et j'ai acheté deux chapeaux....
( Tu m'envoie le lien pour l'article? )

The Poet Laura-eate said...

What wonderful head blossoms! Far more interesting than the racing.

Lydia said...

This post is one of the greatest, Owen! Amazing hats, most definitely. But, more than that, the portraits you captured are stunning and beyond excellent.

Lady Mondegreen's Secret Garden said...

More!