29. januar 2009
7. juli 2008
Cimetière de Menton
Menton is the easternmost town on the French riviera, right by the Italian border. I stayed there for a week with my girlfriend Klara, in a tiny town house in the Vieille Ville - "old village". Here, there are no cars (or bikes for that matter), and the paths between the houses are so steep that they are practically made up of millions of steps, running in different directions, under houses and over viaducts; reminiscent of a labyrinth, at least for the first couple of days. The city really does honour its nickname - La Perle de la France ("The Pearl of France"). It is extremely pretty. Practically untouched since its founding some time in the 14th century (though the area has been inhabited sinde the paleolithic age), the juxtaposing angles and lines appear almost abstract. Most astonishingly, on the top of the old village, the cimetière, cemetery, is located. Overwieving the Menton Bay, with the tower of the baroque basilica Saint-Michel-Archange in the centre, parts of Italy with Ventimilla in the eastern horizon and Monaco in the west, the setting sun orchestrates a timeless play of light, geometries, colour and texture. There are many small chapels in the graveyard, and though many of the stones date within the past century, there is a selection of (beautifully) mistreated stones in what appears to be the most ancient part of the cemetery, the letters and dates erased by years from erosion and heavy weather. As we left and the sun had set, we found ourselves locked inside the cemetery, waiting there until a group of laughing Police Municipal finally unlocks the gate - "Au Revoir" they say, and I guess that's just about right. Click images to enlarge.
Three Makes A Party
I visited the Victoria Park Fair only minutes only minutes after a massive cloud, pouring rain for at least an hour, had passed. The fair, and adjacent amusement park was practically deserted, apart from the employees who had been taking cover inside the Ferris wheel. An empty amusement park was standing there in front of me, the sun suddenly pouring down, over the sight, beautiful and sad. One kid showed up, sporting his dad and granddad well behind, as he suddenly realized that he had the park all for himself. In a matter of second, the sadness of the deserted amusement park evaporated into a realization of every boy's dream. I don't think any of his friends will ever believe him.
9. juni 2008
This Is England
The Metronews front page today displayed an image of a crying woman, followed by an article describing the fact that British kids are more likely to engage in crime and do drugs than any other kids in the EU, according to a survey conducted by the UN. A sad story, indeed, but here is a bit different and lighter point in that context. I took this picture today in front of my house in the East End of London. The pavement was filled with hop-scotches, hearts and other patterns, but right under my window, some kid had written the terribly misspelled sentence you can see on the picture. Well, kids are kids, but "This Is England"!
25. maj 2008
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