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.