Fresh air and photos after hard times.

I already told that I have been very creative in the last three months. I have written about the evolution in my photography, but I never said that once I experienced a style of photo I keep on practicing it once upon a time in order not to forget it. That is exactly what happened with « Pollock or dripping » photos, in French I call them « Papiers Marbrés ». I realized them in 2013.

I gave that title because the aspect of the pictures produced in this style recalled the paper used to bind books. The originality of those images is to give priority to the colour and the movement where as the subject of the photo becomes secondary.

When I produce this type of photos I become « drunk » by what I see and the magnificence of nature. It's like a drug that changes the perception of reality and gives you access to hidden aspects of the nature. It is like if I was moving with the wind in the middle of the foliages. 

This feeling is not very original and can be produced by many artists.  So after the hard times we have been through here are few images to change our minds. Certain are very romantic.

27th of November, National Memorial Day for the events since the 13th of November and their victims.

Today, we were invited to present our national flag at the window to share this homage united. My window is my blog. In the last 15 days I have followed the different Parisian sites involved in the events. 

Rue Bichat, Bullit in the window of the Carillon restaurant.

The 130 deads and the 300 injured  came from 25 countries, average age of 30-35. They were spending time in restaurants, bars, a stadium and a rock concert. For certain terrorists Friday, is a day to pray, and to illustrate their choice of living they acted to force us to follow them. France has a history, and with Voltaire has chosen to resist to religion to support freedom for the citizen. For that reason France became politically symbolic and this explains the choice of Paris. For this same reason there is no point in trying to make a difference between « Je suis Charlie » and « Pray for Paris » events. The two terrorist attempts find their origin in the same ideology. 

Rue Fontaine au Roi, the pub.

The press has focused on the western way of life as being the objective of the terrorists. But we should not forget that the restaurant Comptoir Voltaire is located at the opposite side of the ward, they were not obliged to drive so far to find people drinking or eating outside. The Bataclan stays at the crossing of Boulevard Richard Lenoir and Boulevard Voltaire.
The name « Bataclan » finds its origin in a musical work (a « Chinoiserie », a comical fantasia of Jacques Offenbach). Offenbach father came from Germany and was Jewish. The restaurant La Belle Equipe is located, rue de Charonne, a place where the Jewish community is present. In Wikipedia they mention that the owners of the hall are Jewish, today it belongs to the group Bolloré, and I have no idea of the religion of the owner.

Proud to be Parisian, Rue Fontaine au Roi, the pub. 

Many journalists reported that the victims were the people of France and sometimes used the term « popular ». In the history of France the term Popular evokes the working classes of the crafts and industry. Living in the same place as the victims and after having looked to their profession, it would be more accurate to speak of the Parisian Bobo class, mostly they were employed, many worked in relation with arts and culture, and they came from different countries and religion. Many people came to Paris to build their professional life or have a good time. The places involved in the events were ‘In’ sites. I live just nearby, but my financial situation does not allow me to be out. This « Bobo » generation, is not always conscious that in their behaviour they are communal, they privileged technology, youth and the urban way of life. The people of the suburbs and the teens or seniors were not very present. This « Bobo » generation is the future of Paris.

A muslin women in a group of 8 sharing our emotion. In front of the Bataclan.

-       Having spent much time making photos I must add the following comments:
- After the Charlie’s events it was sometimes said among the Muslim community that what had happened was logical after the caricatures. This time, if the terrorists expected to create a splitting in the Muslim community they missed, on the contrary their testimonies were very present.

Indian family in front of the Bataclan.

- For the first time the Asiatic community was very present because the two restaurants were involved: Le petit Cambodge and a sushi restaurant. Many Buddhist testimonies were present.
- In the first days Paris and the Eiffel Tower were chosen as symbols for the event, and few flags were present, two weeks after flags or the use of the three national colours in the drawings are everywhere. I do not know how to interpret this change. Is it the expression of a rebirth of nationalism or the expression of a national unity?

A couple sharing their emotion at Place de la République.

 
- We should have a profound reflection about the impact of smartphones in our ordinary life. Why are these tools so present in such emotional and personal situations. Are we able to really directly feel the things, why are we obliged to take « souvenirs » at any moment for every purpose. The smart phones have found a unique role in our behaviours, they have changed our direct relation to emotion and memory.

- Today certain people consider they should not change their way of living.  I am not sure it should be the right reaction. We French and western people, have to conduct a major analyse to understand why certain of our young people have chosen this mortal way. The present western model focusing on an individual urban materialism, on communal approaches due to the technology, privileging youth when expectation of life increases, the individual interest against the state organisations excluding the intermediates. We have a lot to do !

All these elements explain why the impact was so strong in France and especially in the world. I wanted to share my feelings and thoughts with you. I have gathered many images and I am always looking for an editor because the use of panoramic photos in this case is uncommon.

Au-Delà du Réel, « Outer Limits », the 10th of November. It's Finished.

 As I told this experience was new to me. Now the exhibition belongs to the past and the balance has been done. Globally the artists were pleased even if there was no sale or fewer new visitors than expected. I received a lot of acknowledgments from the artists, but as I wrote, I had certain objectives in mind in order to evaluate the possibilities of the gallery. 

Poster inspired by the american TV film "Outer Limits". The adventure begins here with the AAB instead of Continues in the original image.

But all this project offered me the opportunity to see from the inside many aspects of the artists and their behaviour, I ignored. Of course, there were both good and bad aspects of this experience, but the most important is that I have been able to identify how I can best contribute to the association. So for several months I will concentrate in collaborating on projects with my work for exhibitions managed by colleagues. Since September I am through a very creative period regarding photography and a new style in my photos came up. So why should I complain. 

 So if the public from the centre of Paris did not come to look my works what should I do? In France there is the following saying from a film « Le Bossu  » 1959: « If you don't get to Lagardere, Lagardere will come to you ». So now with Photoshop there is no limit to my wishes as you can see here above. In the photo I have presented the five works exhibited in the gallery from the AAB displayed in a major gallery of Place des Vosges. This photocomposition belongs to a group of photos called « Look at me! » or « How to have his works seen. » 

Now it's time for new adventures.

"Au-Delà du Réel" (Outter Limits) The exhibition and my Paris Photo Expo 2015.

I mentioned earlier that I had no experience of such an organization, but now this is finished, the exhibition is open and the 17 artists and their 60 works are displayed. Now we need to follow the event and try to identify the impact of the communication to the press and hope many visitors will come including to the Vernissage

that will take place next Wednesday evening on the 4th November.

If there are sales it would be « the cherry on the cake ».

An artist is someone who always lives in reaction to his surrounding. At the beginning I intended to just present previous works. This choice has also been done by some artists. But in September I found the energy again to produce new images based on the Geode, a rounded cinema of the "Cité Des Sciences". Plenty of ideas came up during the shooting period of the photos. So I decided, to break a rule and have learned to use partially the software «Photoshop». Why make such a change? During the selection of the works I was confronted with the use of photo composition in its diversity. The subject of the Geode itself forced me into that direction because it was quite difficult to produce with that building good « Panoroïds» using a single image, whereas just in employing the symmetry of a mirror the possibilities became multiple. The other reason is that be in a cage of a « No Photoshop User » had no important impact on the sales or my fame. So I decided, to try an experience with this exhibition and see how the public will react to my new creations. Of course the basis of my work remains the « Panoroïds», but I will extend the variety of my photos with Photoshop. This choice should also open gates to participate at many thematic exhibitions.

Finally, I conceived how I would contribute: I would produce a small exhibition within the major show. This was my way to express that between artist and their creative process there are correspondences. In my case the sky, the architecture, Photoshop, the use of software, street art, reversed symmetry, movement, digital photo are things that could be also found in the work of the other exhibitors. There are five pieces exhibited shown is the photo. The two on the right are single Panoroïds. 

The first is called « Bulb Bottle » and present a distortion of the building as I generally do, but here the result is astonishing.

The second work is my first « Installation » called Euréka. It illustrates the principle of reversed symmetry obtained with a mirror. The resulting view presents an electric bulb. This recalls me Edison, and the saying « Et la lumière fut » (And Light became true). By extension it evokes my creativity and the new ideas that came up during that period. The choice of making a package to present the mirror and the photo was logical as there was a volume created initially and it needed to be shaped. The packaging is a mixed of different papers which found an application instead of being thrown to the litter. This reuse is compatible with my present financial situation and the promotion of the COP 21 Conference that will take place in a month in Paris. The result is like a box and the visitor is obliged to look in it to see the bulb. I have written «Boite à idée » (Box of an idea) which is a common expression in French, but usually with idea written in plural form and not single. This box also was a reference to a discussion I had with an other artist about her work which reproduced a « camera obscura » my work being a «camara clara ». Finally, I want to show that I am a Street Art artist so I tagged the packaging. So this box is the only « dirty » 3D object that interacts with the visitor.

The two others photos are "Love Planet (2)" and a "SelfPortrait" using reversed symmetry produced with a software.

 The last photo on the left is « Le Grand Totem » (The Big Totem) is a complete photo composition using plenty of elements all taking their origin in the Géode building. This is a more conceptual and esoteric approach.

All the photos belong to a set called « La Géode en Folie » (When the Géode got mad). « Folie » is the name of the different architectural elements painted red that can be found in the Parc of La Villette.

A new initiative and experience with the AAB, Ateliers des Artistes de Belleville : the Portes Ouvertes (Open Doors 2015), 29th May-1st June.

Even if this post is written in October 2015 I felt the need to enter an artist association in 2014, and made unsuccessful trials that year. In 2015 I subscribed to the AAB the nearest association from my apartment. I did not want an association based on photography because my customers are not photographers, the latter being generally only interested in informations about my shooting technique and forget everything about emotion and the finality of my work.

Their objective is to reproduce it, not for money, but for narcissistic reasons. So after a private presentation to a member of the association I was admitted.   

 Panoroïde without Photoshop. Mestissages, 2014. This suite of photos were presented during the Open Doors 2015 at the Régie de Quartier, 4 rue Robert Houdin, Paris 11ème. 

This association is among the oldest in Paris and became famous in the 70s when they were very active against the architectural projects of that period, which aimed to destroy many old buildings symptomatic of the Old Paris.

Thank you for the local association "Régie de Quartier Fontaine au Roi" for having given me the opportunity to participate to the Open Doors.

To welcome to the new members, we were invited to participate in a small exhibition, called Mini Mix,  that took place in the gallery of the association.  The major event of this association is their Open Doors that take place each year during one week-end  end of May or beginning of June. To participate you need to have a workshop, or a place to exhibit your work alone or collectively. I managed to find quickly a local association that supported this initiative and offered a larger space to present my photos  that I shared with another artist.

Photo from the inside.

The Open Doors took place on the   and globally were positive, even if the space is located south–west from the centre where most workshops are.  Sharing the space with Françoise Gasser also member of the AAB, was a real pleasure and there was no competition between our personalities or works. Globally I sold mostly cheap photos and some large framed ones. The amount of the sale was not very big, but as there was no rent, it paid at least for the printing and framing of the photos.

Beside this event I decided to become active in the association and entered the commission responsible for the agenda of the gallery.

A Panoroïd photo just for fun.

In the post from the 17th july, you already saw two panoroïds made after the poster of the magazine Photo celebrating their 500 covers. In fact I have realised about 10 interesting images that give an idea of the diversity my technic can produce.

In the 70 on the French TV,  there was little programmes of several minutes between the major programs that where called "Interlude". Their fonction was to offer either little games or present images of a region. They were not commercial neither advertisement.

So I decided between the posts to introduce some of the panoroïds I have created and give a special comment on them to allow a better understanding of my technic. Even if the images are covered by copyright, these images are not yet planned to be included in my commercial catalog, they are not for sale.

Photo Magazine Special poster with 500 covers. 3rd panoroïd presented.
Copyright Jean Manuel de Noronha, Paris France 2013.

The objective of this image is to present simultaneously a close view and a global view. This image is not perfect in the middle at the level of the 3rd raw of covers there is a visible distorsion, the same is repeated at the 5th raw. These imperfections could be improved with more trainning. But this is not the most important. Having been able just to frame the photo, kept an acceptable balance in the parallelism of the raws, and have the letters readable is already interesting. With a reflex camera such a photo is not possible to produce in one single shot. Here the laws of the standard field depth are changed. I recall that with digital cameras the parameters are set at minimal levels when the panoramic mode is used. So here no use of trepoid, no field depth control with a high figure, etc...

The idea is to have fun in applying the panoramic photo to fields where it is not expected to be used and see what can be done.

email : denoronhapanoramic@gmail.com

My Launchingpeople Project : A tricycle to promote creativity

Last week I heard from the project managed by Samsung regarding creative personnal projects. In my field as I am confronted to a lack of mobility to promote my photos, I thought in designing a special tricycle in order to sell my photos in different places and markets of Paris. So I presented this idea which has been  accepted. In www.launchingpeople.fr, Video & Photo category, my project is present and you can support it.

The two photos reproduced also in this post are Panoroïds made after a special poster reproducing 500 covers of the reference Photo magazine issued last month june 2013. They are not from the commercial catalog but are nevertheless covered by a copyright. They show that my shooting technic can be applied to any subject, and not only monuments or landscapes. 

 Just as a reminder these photos were created as they are without any use of software touching up, accessory or trick. One is completely new as the panoramic is used with a subject of less than 20cm length. The poor quality of the photos is the result of my lack of knowledge and do not correspond to their initial condition. 

Samsung web site :  www.launchingpeople.fr

Facebook : denoronhapanoramic

email : denoronhapanoramic@gmail.com

My catalog of self-edited booklet

My booklets allow you to understand how I generally work. I consider myself as a craftsman and to work on a subject I have to respect a certain methodology that requires to learn how my subject is built and will allow me afterwards to look for really innovative images. As I am quite high in my standards,  its happens that sometimes I have to work several days on an idea of a photo because when I am shooting it I am not able to see correctly the details on the back screen of my digital camera. So it is only in the evening, back home that I can test the impact of the photo on my 20"computer screen.

When I begin the photos I have generally no idea of what I will get, sometimes I am attracted by an aspect I have not studied yet. I am pleased when I reach a state of understanding of the subject that allows me to shoot instinctively, almost in « transe ». It also happens that I need several days to reach what I was expecting. I want to be surprised or « stoned » by the image , then it is pure magic.

Presentation of the booklet relative to Island Saint Louis located in the center of Paris.

Vol 7, L'autre Ile Saint-Louis, The Other Saint-Louis Island.

Réf. Vol715A5Spi

For all these reasons I decided to present my work through single photos and booklets when the subject is adapted. The latter have the advantage to be used as a catalog if someone wants to order a photo not immediately available. The panoroïde catalog for 2013 contains about 300 photos and 20 booklets. Each booklet will be presented in the present blog. The booklets generally contain 15 or 20 images, they are laser printed on a 160gr white paper, cover and back page are of plastic for the small standard reference size : 14,85 x 21 cm, half A4 or A5, 5,85 x 8,27 inches.

      

The content of the booklet is the following : a cover page, a presentation and a summary of the photos  page and one page per photo. The booklet is written in French, the English translation of the texts will be presented in the present blog in the posts presenting the corresponding volumes.

Presently the booklets are written in French, and their size is 14,85 x 21 cm, European A5 size (half A4) or 5"85 x 8"27. The small texts will have their translation edited in the present blog in their corresponding future post. 

The booklets can be ordered in a bigger size, 21 x 29,70 cm, A4 format, or 29,70 x 42 cm, A3 format, but presented unbound containing individual plates. In these publication the photos are reproduced as laser copies on a 160gr white paper. The cover and back page are made of transparent plastic.

Prices without shipping.

                                                      Standard A5                        Folio A4                                Folio Luxe A3

                                                        booklet                                                                                      Limited ed.

15 panoramics                    25 €    33 USD                        50 €   66 USD                          80 €   100 USD

20 panoramics                    30 €    40 USD                        60 €   80 USD                        120 €   150 USD