Harold Davis's Blog, page 79
November 1, 2018
Goodbye Paris
It is with some degree of melancholy that I say goodbye to Paris for this time, as I have “sailed” to warmer climes. The Maltese Islands are a different universe, and I write from my desk overlooking the ramparts of Valletta. But for now one last look over my shoulder at Paris Paris.
Paris Paris © Harold Davis
October 31, 2018
Last Day in Paris
This is my last day in Paris until the spring. I took the Metro into Concorde, walked over to the Orangerie, and sat for a while and marveled at the wonderful installation of Monet’s mammoth water lilies, abstractions created based on his ponds at Giverny.
La Tour Eiffel © Harold Davis
Next, I wandered across the Tuileries to the Jeu de Paume. The most interesting exhibition there (at least to me) showed the work related to social injustice of Dorothea Lange. While not always the greatest photographer from a technical perspective (e.g. framing, composition, and exposure) she certainly had an eye for faces and telling details, and she cared. The caring may matter more than the technical considerations.
Manzanar diorama via iPhone capture © Harold Davis
What does a diorama of the World War II era Japanese-American internment camp at Manazar have to do with this? In a museum in Paris, looking at the contemporaneous photos of the camp by Lange, I was solipsistically struck with the thought that I had just been (a little more than a month ago) to the memorial museum on the site of Manazar in the arid Eastern Sierra. What a small world we live in, where one thing has consequences for other things, and there are no coincidences!
After I left the museum I wandered the banks of the Seine with my camera until it started to rain. Then I stopped into a restaurant for a late lunch, and made my way back to the hotel.
The car picks me up early tomorrow to get to Malta. I have enjoyed my relatively short visit to Paris, but I am also hoping for a bit warmer weather in the southern Mediterranean.
October 30, 2018
Rainy Day in Paris
Last night as a lay under my quilt in my garret room I heard the wind in a racing howl across Paris. I fell asleep to the rhythm of the rain playing percussion on the roof.
Rainy Day in Paris © Harold Davis
Sure enough, in the morning it was indeed a rainy day in Paris, and the water drops danced on the glass of my window facing the Eiffel Tower. Yet somehow the new day brought light and promise beyond the storm, which washed the city at least a bit cleaner.
By midday the storm had broken, although the wind was still strong. Everyone seemed fresher and fortified in the new light from beyond the rain, even in the depths of the Metro where the music was more original and less lip-synched to Piaf. It’s hard not to admire Paris, although I have no real clue about what accounts for the existential magic.
October 29, 2018
Abstracting Sacré-Cœur
High atop the hill of Montmartre sits the cathedral of Sacré-Cœur—which, as I’ve pointed out before, is emblematic (when constructed) of a hard-right quasi-fascism as encouraged by the Church. From a visual standpoint, it is kitsch and rococo, and just a bit weird.
Knocks against its politics of origin and the kitsch aesthetic aside, it is a hecka fun monument to photograph on the exterior (the interior not so much). The rear of the Sacré-Cœur exterior is shown here in an abstraction of wheels-within-wheels (arched arcades over arched arcades), and processed to look as much like a lithograph as a black and white photo.
Sacré-Cœur, exterior detail © Harold Davis
October 28, 2018
View of Paris from my room
My garret room in Montmartre is part way up the hill to Sacré-Cœur. Under the hotel eaves, the room is on the sixth floor (fifth floor by European reckoning), and small. There’s barely room for the bed and my computer, and the wifi is pretty thin (so I am in the hotel common room writing this where connectivity is a bit better).
The room isn’t fancy, and neither is the hotel. But the location is fun, and oh that wonderful view over Paris in the ever-changing light—which makes it all worthwhile!
Paris from Montmartre © Harold Davis
Another view, made with my iPhone, is shown below!
View from my room © Harold Davis
October 23, 2018
Earthlight
At sunset, the crescent moon reflected in the intertidal flats. The moon does not produce light. We see the moon because of reflected sunlight.
In this photo, only the crescent is really bright, but the further shape of the moon can easily be seen behind the shadow of the earth.
Earthlight © Harold Davis
October 22, 2018
Crepuscular Coast
The sun coming over the mountains, and fog rising from the ocean, combined in crepuscular rays to first illuminate the coastal bridge and then with chiaroscuro light the rocky shore.
Crepuscular Coast © Harold Davis
Light and emotion go together. There cannot be light without darkness in contrast, so the two coexist as equal parts of ourselves and our world. When the darkness and light combine in just the right chiaroscuro mixture, then we see an echo of ourselves, the good and bad within, and the light to strive for. And, you can only photograph light—light that is reflected or emitted. You cannot photograph an object in-and-of-itself. The only subject of photography is truly light.
Crepuscular Coast – Black and White © Harold Davis
I photographed these images on Cape Perpetua in coastal Oregon. The color and monochromatic view of the coast with crepuscular rays (above) was mode in morning light. The images of Heceta Head Lighthouse (shown below) were made right about at sunset.
Heceta Head Lighthouse © Harold Davis
Heceta Head © Harold Davis
October 21, 2018
Hologic 2019 Calendar of X-Ray and Fusion X-Ray Images
This blog story shows the cover (above) and a single month (January, below) from the 2019 promotional calendar that Hologic is publishing using the x-rays and fusion x-rays that Dr. Julian Köpke and I have created. Hologic is the maker of the x-ray equipment that Julian and I used to make the images.
Click here for an FAQ related to these images, and here for an online gallery of x-ray and fusion x-ray images.
October 20, 2018
Photos from the legendary eye of Harold Davis
This is a promotional piece sent out on behalf of my studio via Agency Access, a marketing list service for creatives.
October 18, 2018
Announcing Northern Morocco Destination Photo Workshop with Harold Davis (Oct 2019)
I am very pleased to announce a new destination photography workshop to Morocco (with a maximum of twelve photographers), planned for October 2019. This photography adventure is organized in conjunction with Intrepid Travel, a major international travel services company, and is very fairly priced at $3,200 per person for twelve days. Speaking of “twelve,” this is a select, special group—limited to twelve photographers!
We will meet in Casablanca, and begin with a festive welcome dinner at Rick’s Café, a fabulous recreation of the café from the film Casablanca. I am particularly pleased that the tour schedule I have designed in conjunction with Intrepid Travel includes plenty of time for photography in the labyrinthine medieval city of Fes and in Chefchaouen, the “blue city” in the stunning Rif Mountains. The group activity ends in Marrakech.
Click here for the Prospectus and FAQ, here for the itinerary PDF, and here for the Reservation Form.
Inside the Blue Kasbah, Rabat © Harold Davis
When: October 19-30, 2019 (12 Days and 11 Nights).
Group Size: This will be a small group of photographers so we can travel with agility, get to know each other well, and so there will be time for individual attention. The minimum group size is six, and the maximum is twelve photographers.
Cost: $3,200 per person. The single supplement is $450.
This will be a small, very well-priced photography group, and we expect it to fill quickly on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here for the Prospectus and FAQ, here for the itinerary PDF, and here for the Reservation Form.
