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Lens-Artists Challenge #290 – Circular Wonders

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There is something particularly special and personal about the circle and how its curves comfortably rule every aspect of our lives.
― Kat Lahr

I spent a week in Nice and surrounding villages – and was greatly inspired by the art and architecture as well as the ongoing Carnivals. Last time we visited was in 1976…a long time ago. Honestly, I didn’t recognise anything at all, but loved what I saw. And the food was delicious.

A feast of colourful life filled our days. In fact I found so many lovely circular items, old and new, that I decided this challenge would be about Circular Wonders. For you to interpret the way you find most interesting!

This carnival in Nice is an old tradition. In 1294 it was first mentioned in writing, in 1873 it was the first carnival procession in France, and in 1876, flower floats were introduced. Today the Nice Carnival is the grandest and most important carnival (more than two weeks of festivities) in the Mediterranean area.

As the old towns and small towns here usually do, Saint Paul de Vence, Menton and Eze, offered lovely cobbled streets and wonderful art galleries, big and small. Fondation Maeght was impressive, and the Chagall museum in Nice was of course well worth a visit.

In my gallery below, the included Chagall is from his Bible series. Fête du Citron (with 140 tons of fruit used for uncountable circles…) in Menton had an Olympic theme. And every morning tables were beautifully laid on the beach – emanating strong spring vibes to a cold Swedish soul.

Wander into the center of the circle of wonder.

– Hongzhi Zhengjue

The next gallery is from the Opening Parade (this year the theme was Pop Culture) and the Flower Parade. Among the flower floats I recognised many fairy tale themes. When I said we were going to the ”Flower Parade”, an elderly French gentleman kindly corrected me – Bataille des Fleurs! Oh well, that sounded just perfect in French.

A circle is a round straight line with a hole in the middle.

– Mark Twain

Circles, half circles…skirts, dresses, hairdos, flowers, umbrellas, candy, and even a nose. Most impressive of these circular wonders, were the cycling musicians from the Netherlands – and they circled throughout the whole parade, lead by a biking conductor! There were all instruments from drums to trumpets and horns – and no one fell off his/her bike… some admirable skills there.

Come out of the circle of time

And into the circle of love.

– Rumi

Et voilá – I will end with some non-carnival flowers found in Nice, Menton and Eze. We had such a fun, lovely and uplifting week. And the icing on the cake was that –

Viveka (My Guilty Pleasures) and I chatted for a couple of hours and had a rosy drink while discussing the festivals and our outings around Nice. Unfortunately she had booked one week later than us, so this was only a short meet before we left.

Cheers!

Now we are looking forward to seeing your fantastic circles and half circles! Be sure to link to my original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Hope you want to join in!

Big thanks to John, for last week’s brilliant lessons about tools of composition – inspirational posts en masse! Next week it is Patti’s turn to host, so please visit her beautiful site for more inspiration.

Thursday Thoughts – Nice again!

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Do you love dragons?

Warning – I do and always have…So, the night light carnival was absolutely mezmerising. Ever since I first read about dragons, I have loved them. My daughter played with dragons and built dragons instead of dolls or cars. I still love animated movies with dragons in them. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki on Japanese myths of old) and How to Train your Dragon (charming and clever), both have much to teach us. Fun, inspiration and wisdom in one. I hope to see them again with little Myra.

Time for the Light festival then. Promenade des Anglais looked wonderful in the sunset. But now – let’s get started!

The Carnival King arrived in confetti showers. At least 10-15 meters tall. Impressive.

Then another king came along – you all know who he is!

This car was obviously every year in the parade. I don’t recognise the animals or drivers. Do you?

Now – my dragons! Some skilled building here and I don’t want to know how many hours’ work. Look at the details. He walked, moved his body parts separately, sent flames and smoke, and juggled artists from his neck and head.

We climbed down the stairs to see him from ground level too. What a treat! My little grandchild looked at the movie clip I sent, and was at first a bit scared, then fascinated. I hope she will love dragons too. My fascination still burns. It is good to keep the child in you even as a grown up.

Lens-Artists Challenge #289 – Tools of Composition

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John leads the challenge this week, and wants us to focus on the importance of Shape, Form, Texture and Light in our compositions. I guess most of us do, but without thinking about it. This tunnel in Eze, France, is smoothly showing off all these aspects. I simply take photos of what I find a beautiful view.

John suggests we choose to highlight one or more of these aspects, and present one or two of our favorites. We can decide to focus on only one aspect or include examples of all of them. I thought I would focus on my favourites, texture and light – but found I had some examples for all four of them. Some more of the latter though…

As John points out, the difference between shape and form can be difficult to decide, but artists typically consider shape to be two-dimensional while a form is three-dimensional. This picture above shows a shape of a house that has been stripped of its form. You can still see where the walls and staircases once was.

A house like this would represent a form – a square house in the middle of a square in a little town in Switzerland.

I too, find flowers to be one of my favorite organic forms as subjects for my photography. Cherry blossom in my garden is what I long for right now – but this rare orchid was a real treat on our short trip to Menton.

There are many unique textures created by the elements, and right now I want to highlight magma and lava – as there is an ongoing volcanic eruption in Iceland again. Lava formed to solid rock makes fascinating textures. My picture is from the Galapagos Islands.

Photos wouldn’t be possible without light, and capturing light is what photography is all about. Personally I prefer natural light, and will not use the flash unless I am desperately forced to. Which is…almost never.

You can find light everywhere – in the air, in lamp light, sun rays, grasses, glow worms, reflections in water, stones, rails… Backlight is a lovely favourite of mine.

Finally, a Morocco favourite from the small, colourful alleys in Marrakesh.

I am always waiting for some magical light….but, I seldom get it as I live far away from the sea. I feel the light there is often more magical than elsewhere. Except maybe for the desert. Every time I go somewhere close to a lake or the sea, I use some mornings and evenings waiting for ”that” magical moment. The fiery sky photo in the opener was captured on my recent visit to Nice.

Last week, Ritva challenged us to do some Window Shopping – a big thank you for a fun and interesting challenge! I realised I never do this unless I go abroad. It also brought new insight into other cultures and people’s interests. Next week, it is my turn to be your host for the Lens-Artists Challenge. Until then, take care and be kind.

Be sure to link to John’s page if you are participating, and remember to use the Lens-Artists tag. If you’d like to respond to our challenge each week and want to know how to get started, click here.

Thursday Thoughts – Carnaval de Nice

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For the first time we were there – and we went four different carnival days. All thanks to Viveka of Myguiltypleasures, who is a true ambassador of this carnival. If you want to see more from Nice – please visit her fantastic blog.

Enjoy a gallery from the Opening Parade, with the theme: Roi de la Pop Culture. Starting and ending with some great stars!

More to come next week…

Lens-Artists Challenge # 288 – Window Shopping

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First, an old favourite of mine from a late walk in Riga, Latvia, hopefully suitable as a warm welcome to Ritva as she hosts for the first time as a Lens-Artist team member! Ritva is a skilled and interesting photographer, so please visit her site for more inspiration!


Like Ritva, I often do window shopping. It is cheaper than shopping, and I like to photograph creative and attractive windows. What’s more, Ritva says that anything goes for this challenge. Even window frames alone permitted – so, here we go!

Buy, buy, says the sign in the shop window; Why, why, says the junk in the yard.

– Paul McCartney

As I take a look at my old photo galleries and archives, I find that I mostly take pictures of art and architecture – and I still do. In fact I had some great opportunities in Nice last week, so all my photos here are from this tiny part of France. Mainly from St-Paul-de-Vence and Eze.

In this first picture, I found complete harmony between the building and the display behind the glass. I love the contrasts in structure inside and outside. And all colours matched – something not so often seen.

I love different styles, even the very elaborate ones. I admire people who can create ”clean” and coherent displays in any style. The French, just like the Italians, are so good at it.

Marrying a man is like buying something you’ve been admiring for a long time in a shop window. You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn’t always go with everything else in the house.

– Jean Kerr

We must not forget food, and especially cakes, that make such beautiful windows! Sometimes I feel like walking right through the glass to get some… These artworks are often handmade too, which you cannot say about many things nowadays. We all know that we eat with our eyes as well – so this is double window shopping, speaking to at least two of our senses.

I went window shopping today! I bought four windows.

– Tommy Cooper

A post on window shopping would not be complete without clothes in it. Well, I found this display rather interesting – there were similar displays and windows for each range of colours. It took me a minute or two to understand that the small round packages all contained vests like the one in the middle. Easy to carry, easy to wear. And I am there too if you look closely…

Art is clearly my favourite for most city photos, and this post is no exception. The last one to the right is a painting behind a window grid. For a special effect and to confuse you a bit… I did not include the real frame.

Finally, window shopping naturelle! In my eyes, nothing beats the old city walls with nature on display in glassless windows.

A big thank you to Donna for her creative and inspiring post on the topic of sound. I really had to put on my thinking cap there… It was wonderful to see how different everyone interpreted it.

Remember to tag Lens-Artists if you’re taking part and to link back to Ritvas original post. Next week John (Journeys with Johnbo) will host the Lens-Artists Challenge. Be sure to visit his inspirational site for more! And if you want even more information on the Lens-Artists Challenge, please click here.