Random Light ? You Decide...

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If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you know there is no religious orientation presented here whatsoever, nor is there any leaning toward paranormal or otherworldly experiences. This page has never been about anything other than presenting photographs I've made over the years, in my own simple way, with plain words.
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A month ago, at the end of January, I had the pleasure of spending a cold, windy afternoon in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris in the good company of Mary G., Virginia J., Peter O., and la Grenouille, with no other purpose than to stroll and take some cemetery photographs, as we all enjoy doing. It was Mary who suggested I take a look at the tomb of the well known French glass artist Rene Lalique, as there was an interesting sculpted glass crucifixion scene to see on it. Here is a front view:
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This second image is actually the first photo I shot that day of the glass crucifixion scene shown above. I was trying to catch a reflection on the surface of the glass, as reflection photos are another of my interests. When I got home that night I thought this image was rather unusual. What do you think ? What do you see in this photo ? Is what you see here the result of a random of play of light in the glass ? If not, than what do you think of this and what might explain it ? I would really like to hear your opinion.
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Mary G. even took a photo of me taking a photo of Lalique's tomb that afternoon... and very kindly sent it along to me after she got back home to the States... Thanks Again Mary !
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Tombstone Blues

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If you have been looking at these pages for any length of time, you know I love cemeteries, and you also know I love reflected light. So when I came across this puddle reflection on a tombstone after a rainstorm, I was close to heaven. And funny, the blue sky in the reflection is much closer to the real color than the bits of sky visible through the trees. So much dark surface in this image that the metering caused the real sky to get burned out a bit. This was in the Pantin-Aubervilliers Cemetery, just outside Paris, which at 107 hectares, or 264 acres, is the largest cemetery in France. And for another take on Tombstone Blues... click here. And as it is the weekend, and this is a reflection, let's put it up on Weekend Reflections over at James' place.
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Family Photographs . . .

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Hi everyone ! See, haven't disappeared from here entirely, but as mentioned earlier, my new mistress Facebook is rather demanding. She keeps requiring gifts of time, and pearls, diamonds, chateaux, sailboats, etc.  So I am struggling to keep her happy. If you want to see what I mean, just open your FB account, I know you all secretly have one, and "Like" my page named oddly enough : "Owen Phillips Photography France".  
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I had to add "France" on the name because there is another photographer who you can find on Google named Owen Phillips in the UK, who does some great work. By strange coincidence he even has the same middle name as me. And is an acoustic guitar folk musician, also like me, if I could go so far to claim the title of musician. That is a fairly large assumption.
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Was able these past days to get out and wander in a few cemeteries. The two photos here are very recent, the first from Gentilly Cemetery, on the south edge of Paris, the second from Pantin Cemetery, the largest cemetery in all of France, just outside Paris to the northeast. A father and his son killed in World War One. A mother and her daughter who died far too young. Why post such images during the holidays ? Well, for me, they contain strong messages about loving those who are close to you, while you can. For time on Earth is often far shorter for many people than it should be. One never knows when one will have to go.
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Happy Holidays to all !  And I'm very sorry to do so, but I finally turned on the word verification on comments, just far too much spam coming in. Am tired of having to delete it all every time I open blogger. I hate Google's bloody word verification, half the time I can't even read the numbers and some of the letters. But the spam senders can't either, so they lose.  Cheers !
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A Small Black Dress . . . Petite Robe Noir . . .

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Very exceptionally, to participate in James Weekend Reflections this week, am posting a photo which I did not take myself ; the Grenouille (Mr Toad's other half) took it last week on her iPhone in Paris. Just across the street from Le Printemps department store. A quintessentially Parisian reflection. Great job, chère Grenouille !
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I must admit, if I'm posting her photo here, in the spotlight of international celebrity and fame to be forthcoming to her, it is partly to calm her tempestuous temper. For she has found out that I have another mistress. She has known about this blog for some time now, my late nights slaking the thirsts of the blogosphere had finally come to her attention. But now, for some weeks, I've been shacking up with Ms. Facebook (or Fesses de Bouc, as some French say), and la Grenouille somehow got wind of it. I suspect Ms. Blogspot must have sent her an anonymous letter. I even dressed Ms. Facebook up with a new public page which can be peeked at here. (though you will need to log in to Ms. Facebook to see it). Now, I've got to run, before la Grenouille catches up to me with her rolling pin and frying pan to do a drumbeat on my cranium.
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The Love Lock Bridge of Paris : Pont des Arts

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Writing about the huge collection of padlocks, bicycle locks, small locks, big locks, wide locks, thin locks, love locks, dread locks, goldi-locks which festoon (grace?) the sides of the Pont des Arts in Paris, adjacent to the Louvre, is sort of like writing about the Eiffel Tower.  Nearly every one who has been to Paris any time recently will say, "Been there, done that". 
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Well, I hadn't been there yet, though I'd heard several times about the locks of love on the Pont des Arts, and also on the Pont de l’Archevêché just behind Notre Dame Cathedral. So while in Paris to go see the Manuel Alvarez Bravo photo exposition at the Jeu de Paume, with la Grenouille, we strolled over to the Pont des Arts to see what all the fuss was about. Rarely have I seen so many cameras out and snapping away, close up and from a distance, at all the locks fastened to the fencing on the sides of the bridge, symbolizing, supposedly, the everlasting love of the people who placed them there. 
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Not everyone is too thrilled about all the locks and the message they represent. The NYT ran an article in August of this year about the locks titled "An Affront to Love, French-Style". Another article in the Independent relates how the Paris City Hall organised the removal of all the locks, only to see the locks return in even greater numbers after the removal. Personally, I would apply the old dictum, "If it feels good, do it" to the phenomenon. I find this far less offensive than the majority of brainless graffiti that gets painted most anywhere these days. And the variety of colors, styles, and messages makes for some entertaining lock viewing moments, we spent nearly an hour inspecting both sides of the bridge. And honestly, even if imho a padlock is not the right symbol for love, for those who think it is, or are simply having fun, are they hurting anything ? I think not. Some folks are for Rock and Roll, others for Lock and LOL.
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This was the largest of the locks we saw, a sheet metal, bolts, and cable affair, though perhaps not functional. Could double as a chastity device, albeit an uncomfortable one ?
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Visible here the small park at the tip of the Ile de la Cité where American war protesters were camped out in 1970 when I first came to Paris. (ok, that dates me a bit...)
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Not only were there locks, but a trumpeter trumpeting out his love...
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And readers soaking up all those good vibrations...
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And young lovers... which is what Paris is all about, whether one likes the locks, or not...
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Tale From A Crypt . . .

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It's funny how one thing leads to another in life. By a series of chance coincidences a few years ago now, early on in the blogging days, I came across TomB's blog on blogger, and was seduced by the quality of his photography and especially his choices of subject matter. Sometimes things just resonate. His blog migrated to a Tumblr site, which is active today, and where the excellent work continues to appear, following his trips to a wide variety of sites where abandon is the key word, and his photography of them is poetry in practice. Lest I wax over enthusiastic in use of superlatives, I shall refrain from further praise, and simply encourage you to go take a look for yourselves. But thanks to his blog, and exchanges of comments there, little by little a correspondence developed, so when I was in the USA in 2010, we were able to meet for a day, and go visit two abandoned factories in Pennsylvania, about which I blogged about at the time, and he kindly, very kindly, gave me information which allowed me to visit a third site on my own, a coal breaker factory, which has also appeared in these pages. So when I learned that Tom and his travelling companion Jennifer would be in Europe on whirlwind tour of London, Paris, Germany, Belgium and Holland in May, it was only natural that we should try to meet again. Thus on a sunny Saturday afternoon two weeks ago, we set up a rendez-vous near the northwest entrance to Père Lachaise Cemetery, and were able to spend two hours strolling in that vast open air museum, before spending the evening over drinks and dinner in the 5th. So Tom and Jennifer, what can I say, it was wonderful to see you, and I hope the entire trip was full of good times and great photo locations. By the way, Jennifer, also is active on the web, her vintage business is thriving; you can see more of her work here on Sally Jane Vintage and here on her Flickr page... enjoy.
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We wandered in Père Lachaise seeking out some notable tombs such as Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, and Oscar Wilde, but also just randomly looking for the exquisite details which abound there... like these old ceramic flowers, or a pelican sculpture which I'd never noticed before.
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It seems the latest fad at Jim Morrison's tomb, since it became forbidden to cover adjacent tombs with graffiti, is to stick chewing gum on the tree just in front of his grave, often with a cryptic message imprinted in the gum. This is fairly recent, as the tree in question wasn't covered with gum like this the last time I was there, and photographed a bit of graffiti written on the bark in black marker. I don't know what the tree thinks of this "decoration".
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Speaking of one thing leading to another in life; with Tom over dinner we were talking about other people who are passionate about abandoned buildings and photography of such places, the realm of urban exploration. One site we talked about is the fabulous Opacity project, to which there has been a link in my sidebar for a long time, but following our conversation, I went back and took a look to refresh my memory. During which visit I stumbled on a report about a location in Belgium, which is the page linked to here, where there is a large underground burial area beneath a cemetery. This is far more than just a small crypt below ground, it is composed of several gallery tunnels that stretch out for some considerable distance, which are lined with hundreds of burial chambers in the walls, each covered with an engraved plaque. On the Opacity page it is referred to as "La Crypte des Fleurs", and the location is not revealed, but there is a link from Opacity to another urban exploration website called Forbidden Places, where there is also a report about the site in question, titled the Abandoned Crypt. Although he does not name the community where the cemetery is located, he does provide a map link, where it is clearly indicated. With that information in hand, I went looking for the place this past Friday, when I had to be in Belgium for work for a day... and was thrilled to be able to find it, and to be able to descend into the underground crypt and return with photographs of this extraordinary and highly unusual cemetery.
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Already just the above ground part was well worth a good stroll around. Near the far rear of the grounds there is a large copy of Rodin's Thinker installed on a tomb, the likes of which I've never seen in a cemetery before. And there were many other remarkable sculptures and portrait photos, which I could have spent hours exploring and photographing, a few examples of which follow here, but I was focused on finding the underground section, which took me some time to finally locate.
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But at last I stumbled on a ramp going down below ground, not all that far from the main cemetery entrance, which I hadn't gone by on my way in, as I'd set off in another direction. There were barriers in front of the entrance, but nothing flagrantly saying "No Entry", and nothing to deter a curious visitor, so I ventured down the ramp to take my chances. And no regrets, as the underground crypt is a most remarkable place, have never seen anything quite like it. Many beautiful old portrait photos in varying states of photographic decay there, and many fascinating stories glimpsed on the plaques covering the chambers in the walls. Heartfelt thanks to Opacity, Forbidden Places, and especially TomB who was again the catalyst here. More photos to come, as soon as time allows. Which may not be for a little while, as will be travelling in Italy in the coming weeks.
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Spring Cleaning . . .

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Hello... My name is Owen, and I'm a recovering blogaholic. :-)
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I've been taking a break from blogging as Spring Cleaning is in progress, and it has been occupying whole days of going through all the various rats nests that have been accumulating in and around the house, to clear out the dead brush to help let the living things breathe and grow. Today it took me all afternoon to clean out the eight large, deep drawers in my big old wood desk. Large piles of stuff went to the recycling bins. I've lightened my load, and am smiling for it.
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All this cleaning has been giving me considerable food for thought. Putting me in touch with certain things again which had been laying forgotten, or fallow if you will. I'm realizing I need to make some adjustments in my life. The blogging for one thing. This blog now has over 1100 postings in it. It has become my War & Peace. My life story can be found in it. My heart has been poured out in it. Massive amounts of time have been spent composing it, and then following through answering comments, and getting out to visit as often and as many as possible of other wonderful blogs encountered along the blogging highways and byways.
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It's time for me to slow down a little bit in regard to all that. The Magic Lantern Show will continue, but perhaps at a slower pace than previously. The house cleaning of late has shown me that there are numerous books around me that I haven't read yet. And I love to read. Have been doing a lot more reading recently than I have since blogging monopolized large amounts of my life over three years ago. My guitar has been languishing in the living room corner, neglected. It is time to change that. I need to spend more time out with the camera, and less time in front of the PC. My writing, other than composing paragraphs for the blog, has gone to the dogs. There are a poem or three rattling their bones in the back of my head, I need to start sitting down again and scribbling on paper, tinkering with bits of the loose verses I've written so much of in years past, and from which I, if no one else, derive some considerable pleasure. Time to take care of myself perhaps a little better. Time to spend more time with la Grenouille. Less burning the midnight oil leaving just one more comment in a comment box, and more time sleeping. I've had some health issues over the winter which I won't bore you with, but they have served as a wake up call. I need to adjust certain perspectives and priorities, spend more time more in touch with the real, the immediate, and less time in the virtual realms of cyberspace.
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So, I shan't disappear from the blogosphere, which is a vibrant community I've come to love and respect and admire, but I shall be a bit less present than previously. The Spring Cleaning has a ways to go still. The vegetable garden will be wanting to be planted soon. La Grenouille wants new flower beds prepared along parts of the yard. There's a bird house that needs mending.
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Now, it's time for what I set out to blog about today, which was not the above series of reflections which simply happened spontaneously, but about a wonderful exposition at the Grand Palais in Paris which ended in February, of large works of map-making sculptures from the 17th and 18th centuries. Applied architectural modelling of entire cities and the landscapes around them done by artisans of the highest artistic levels, producing dumbfounding results with the raw materials they had available at the time, which we might consider rather crude and basic today.

Some of these works can be seen all year round in the rather unknown Museum of Plans and Reliefs which is housed in Paris in les Invalides, on an upper floor, which is one of the greatest hidden treasures in Paris, imho. They were made for military purposes, to help strategists better understand the defensive requirements of key areas. I stumbled on the Museum in les Invalides by chance many years ago, and still have the guide book from my first visit there, which was  published in 1981, the cover of which is scanned for the first image here. After seeing some of the "plans" in the museum, I was inspired to go see some of the places in situ, like the beautiful city of Briancon in the French Alps. Some of the displays that were on exhibit at the Grand Palais cannot be seen in the permanent museum, because they are simply too big for the rooms there. The model of the city of Brest takes up over 60 square meters of floor space, or roughly 645 square feet.
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I'd like to thank Peter, of the excellent blog Peter's Paris , who clued me in to the exposition at the Grand Palais with the piece linked to here at the end of January. I had just enough time to slip down there and see it before it was over.
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The second image here is also scanned from the guidebook, and gives a more precise idea of the extraordinary level of detail used in making these models. Each window, each chimney, each roof, each door is exquisitely visible with startling realism. I hope no one will mind me borrowing the cover image and this one picture, in the intention of encouraging you to go visit the museum in les Invalides the next time you are in Paris, and where you pick up your own copy of a book.
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The following images I took on my visit to the expo in February, just a few weeks back now. Enjoy. And do go see the Museum of Plans and Reliefs the next time you have an hour or two to kill in Paris, it is well worth a visit.
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These were samples of some of the materials used to make the models.
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Now I'm off to clean out the attic. :-) See you soon.
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