Pictures At An Exhibition . . .

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On a late October Sunday afternoon, James and I were strolling through the Belleville area of Paris, when we found this spot in a park with a surprisingly good view of nearly all the city of light, and the sky above. James took quite a few more photos from here than I did, so I will be curious to see what some of his pictures look like; as two photographers will never take quite the same photo of the same time and place. (and I thought I saw a few angels flitting about up there in the clouds)
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Shortly before we got up to that high point in Belleville Park which had such a good view overlooking Paris, we came across a bar (which unfortunately was closed, as I could have used a spot to drink) with a big mural photo across one side of its lowered security grates.

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Native Americans ? Sad to see that someone had defaced the image.

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But to the right of the shuttered up bar, there was a second part to the Bar Floreal, with a big neon sign in the window proclaiming "Bar Floreal Photographie". Now that caught my attention. Not only because I love neon signs, but what a great idea, to combine a bar with a photo gallery. Now why didn't I think of that ??? And to boot, there were some reflections visible in the window, which thus makes this perfect for James Reflection Weekend.

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Apparently the Bar Floreal also does photography exhibitions. I'm going to have to go back there at a time when they are more likely to be open, for both a drink and to take in some photography. And perhaps also to kick around with the owners of the place a little idea that has been trotting about in my cluttered mind for quite some time now.

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For a number of months now I've been thinking that it would be wonderful to be able to organize an exhibition in a Paris gallery somewhere of photos done by several bloggers who are doing simply extraordinary work. Work which merits attention. Yes, their work is visible on the internet for the whole world to see. But the internet is not the same thing as a gallery in Paris, and actual high quality framed prints of photographs are not the same thing as seeing them on a computer screen.

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I don't know if one joint exhibition, or a series of individual exhibitions would be the way to go, but I think it would be a fabulous experience for all concerned if it could be made to happen.

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There are so many excellent photography bloggers out there that I'm almost afraid to begin a list here, in case I might miss someone, but just a few of the artists in question whose work I would love to see on the walls of a Paris gallery are, in no particular order :

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- Roxana : Floating Bridge of Dreams (pure magic)

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- Clo : Photo Sans Cibles (sublimissime)

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- Loulou : Indiaphragme (incomparable photos from India)

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- Springman : Pine River Review (If you enjoy Eliot Porter, you will enjoy Springman)

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- James : Something Sighted (also of Newtown Area Photos linked above)

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- Scotty Graham : Last Flight Out Photography (unreal underwater and other...)

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- Lisa : Stickup Artist (some of the finest photos of California I've ever seen)

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- John : John's Photography (look through his archives for abandoned cars !)

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- Tom B. : Tom b. Photography (both on Tumblr, and find his previous Blogspot blog)

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- A few poems could be read also by Nevine during the exhibition opening

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- Virginia : Paris Through My Lens (her love of Paris comes shining through)

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- Priya : The Plum Tree (for her lovely charcoal drawings)(currently with an exhibition happening in Bangalore)

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- K'line : Through My Looking Glass (with her magic wand she transforms...)

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- Lynne : Décolleté Glimpses & Ragzedge Arts (for her photo montages and paintings too !)

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- Rima : The Hermitage (for her out of this world paintings and creations !)

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- Karine F. : Un Jour Une Vie (look through her older posts)

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- Karine Arnou : Peintures, Photos, et Humeurs (extraordinary watercolors and photos)

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- Jeff : Life Is Beautiful (a little quiet of late, but hopefully returning with more photos and philosophy)

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Just imagine their photos and paintings on these walls . . .

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I loved how the neon light was reflecting in the plate glass, creating a red echo.

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Let There Be Neon Smiles !

There is reason to be happy; hump day is behind us, it is clear sailing now toward the weekend. . . Even this neon square head was drooling a big dribble of pleasure. You wouldn't believe me if I told you what time I took this picture this morning, coming home from another late night at the... office... Although I've driven by the place hundreds of times, for some reason I never looked in my rear view mirror at just the right time and angle to spot this sign well off the road in a side parking lot of a gritty commercial area. . . that I tend to never look at going by.
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And if you've been reading the press this week, as I admit I sometimes do, you have no doubt noticed the appalling stories about Farrah Fawcett's private medical data being leaked by the hospital she was being treated at to the tabloid press. How revolting. This neon sign of a faucet, presumably a leaky one that needs fixing, had me thinking about all that. Reminded me of Bob Dylan's song "Idiot Wind", where he says, "Someone's got it in for me, they're leaking stories to the press" . . .
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Let There Be Neon ! Rudi Stern !

While driving home the other night from work at around three in the morning, a realy-o truly-o ungodly-o hour, I wouldn't wish working at night on anyone, I noticed a small splash of neon light in a spot that had never caught my eye before, so I stopped to take this picture. The more I looked at it, the more I realized that someone really went to great lengths to cut the outline of this sign out with painstaking precision and attention to geographical accuracy. In France the country is often called "l' hexagone" as the outline of France approximates a hexagon, and many signs have a hexagonal shape for that reason... but whoever made this one was a stickler for detail ! Bravo to whoever you are, nice job. Only one of the three neon arrows was working though. Either they are economizing electricity, or this sign needs repairs.

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Anyway, neon signs always, infallibly, get me thinking about a guy who I was lucky to have met and considered a good friend despite the short time I knew him... Rudi Stern. Rudi was one of the founders of a company which is still going strong in New York City called : Let There Be Neon Don't hesitate to get in touch with them if you need any neon signs around your place, these guys are the best ! On their website there is a tribute to Rudi. He sent me the photo just below the sign here while he was living in Italy, just a couple of short years before he died in 2006. Rudi, Rest In Peace man, you were a giant in my eyes.

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Rudi Stern : In Memory

I did this portrait of Rudi Stern in July, 2002, in a small outdoor café in Jersey City, NJ, directly across the Hudson River from where the World Trade Center towers had come thundering down less than one year previously. Rudi was telling us how he had been walking his dog, as usual, that September morning along the river when the proverbial feces hit the fan. Even from across the river he could see people jumping from the top of the stricken towers as the smoke billowed up. Oddly enough, in August 2001 he had sent us a postcard to invite us to a party he was throwing on September 9th, 2001 at his new studio in Jersey City, as a housewarming. This is the postcard, on which he had pasted the PS about the view from his roof... a view that was radically transformed just two days later :
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All things considered, I suppose it is just as well that we couldn't make it to Rudi's party that weekend, as we probably would have had a hard time getting back to France if we had stayed for a day or two afterwards, which would have been likely.

Rudi : In Memoriam

Rudi Stern was a great man. A truly great human being. He was among the most generous and intelligent humans I've ever encountered. From the time I met him in Haiti, where he was living in a house in Petionville, above Port au Prince, that he rented from the sister of Antoine Izmery, who had been assassinated outside a church, Rudi never ceased to demonstrate his kindness and thoughtfulness. Rudi was in Haiti working on films he had been shooting for Crowing Rooster Arts, about the political situation in that sad and desolate country. He had trained as a painter, and still was painting in Haiti, in Jersey City, and in Italy, the last time I saw him alive. But he had gone from painting to doing light shows for people like Igor Stravinsky or the Doors, while hanging out with Timothy Leary's crowd in the 1960's. He went on to producing works of art in Neon, founding a company called "Let There Be Neon", and he authored a book with the same name. Type Rudi Stern on Google, and numerous references can be found, including obituaries which ran in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among others. I shot this portrait in Haiti on the terrace where we played chess several times during the two weeks I was there. Rudi passed away in 2006, a victim of lung cancer. I will never forget how he related the morning of September 11th, 2001. He was out walking his dog, as he loved to do, along the river in Jersey City, just across from the World Trade Center. The events of that morning were clearly visible from his vantage point across the river. He was profoundly afflicted by having witnessed people jumping from the tops of the stricken towers. He was an excellent chess player. More info can be found at :

http://www.lettherebeneon.com/rudi_stern_memorial/index.php