France, lots of graffiti, a little JR

I was in Le Croisic for a wedding. My bedroom window offered a view of the ocean

The sky would melt into sunset.

Le Crosic graffiti

The wildest time on my trip was on my birthday when I was stranded in the walled city of Guerande with a lovely Spanish lady.

We wandered around the city and spent hours chatting on a cafe terrace about the importance of letting adventures happen. I tried to keep the spirit of the day throughout my trip.

Then to Paris, and this was the view from my window.

There was no light in the wc for a few days, which gave me a chance to take a picture by candlelight.

I went to see the JR installation at the Pantheon.

 The photos were printed on plastic that would sometimes reflect the light.

All of those faces looking straight at the viewer were very intense.

I visited the petite ceinture which is like the high line in New York, but left to run wild. It is unlike the French to let nature do its thing but they were very proud of protecting the abandoned railway's ecosystem. I thought it was far better than the fussy nyc park.

Here are some thistles behaving a lot like weeds.

On the parapet walls of the railway, the graffiti blended with the vines.

Sometimes a tagger would paint over the dead branches.

I had planned on taking photos for my dream project, but the light was never what I expected

There always seemed to be additional layers things were never as they appeared. It was like living in one of my dreams.

I wandered through the neighborhoods where I lived, remembering lost adventures and enjoying the colors.

My dream project will just have to fit with the images I have.

Eyes on Graffiti

I took my camera with me when I was running errands on my bicycle. It was mid afternoon and I wasn't sure there would be anything to photograph. I had forgotten about this wall I kept wanting to catch.

The bars on the eye are a trompe l'oeil, an eye that is a trick of the eye.

When I was crossing the Williamsburg bridge I noticed that workers were resurfacing the building with the JR photo. Its days may be numbered, so I photographed it as well. 

Meanwhile, Bansky has been in New York putting up art and creating frenzy.

Signs of Spring

Another JR portrait? It is next to an ad hence my doubt.

The weird, not quite spring weather has continued to plague us. The trees have finally begun to flower and send out leaves but they are doing it fitfully. I am pretty sure we have not had a day without some kind of strong wind in two months. Still it is beginning to feel like spring time.

Every thing is still delicate and fresh. The one good thing about the wind is it blows the bad smells and smog away.

I love these trees, growing in containers on shadowy streets, sending out dainty blossoms. The trucks rumble by drowning out the songbirds.

Yes, there are songbirds in New York city, it is the best sound.

JR in New York

One of my favorite artists, JR has been in town putting up his work. He is a French photographer who has been traveling the world making huge wheat paste portraits.

The New York Times did a big article on him after he won the TED prize.  He sounded pretty humble in the Times article, just a simple graffiti artist doing his thing.

I get the feeling that he has deep affection for his subjects. So much art is kind of ironic, with Andy Warhol's ghost snickering in the background. When I saw JR's portraits from Tunisia right after their revolution, I was moved by how he captured the excitement of the Tunisians.

After I took a few pictures of his work, I found others, it was almost like a scavenger hunt. I wish I could make art with JR.

 

The Wooster Collective has some posts about his work here.