Travelling Around Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco

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It’s been almost 3 years since I was last overseas.  I thought I’d get back this year for my 40^th but instead have decided on some other adventures for the time being.

I have been to France loads of times but was never in the South of France.  I found a ridiculous sale through Air France one weekend.  $699 for a trip in the Fall – all taxes in.  Believe me I have never seen that pricing again since and I’m constantly looking.  It was the most romantic and luxurious flight I have even been on.  I don’t think I can travel budget again after that journey.  The flight hadn’t even taken off but yet the flight attendants had already passed out the menu of what we would be eating and drinking for the next 5 -6 hours.  Yes a menu.  Consisting of choices of appetizers, entrees, desserts, coffee and tea in real tea cups and saucers, succulent wines and lovely chocolates to end the meal.  In the centre of the flight – the main gangway housed serve yourself drinks, pop, water etc. all night.  This way you didn’t need to wait for a flight attendant to pass you at 3 a.m..  Instead you could get up and just help yourself.  Easy!  Oh so civilized.

Air France even had an amazing magazine that detailed more about their travel experiences, where they fly and lovely photography.  Honestly I didn’t want to get off the flight when it landed in Paris.

When I did and had to transfer to a smaller regional flight from Paris to Nice – I could feel Grace Kelly’s ghost rambling around the plane.  All I could see was blue water, ocean front, quaint little houses and rolling countryside’s as the flight descended.

I was there for 7 days and in that time I discovered Chagall’s art work, checked out the Matisse Museum, visited St. Paul, inhaled the violet and lavender fields, went on a one day train trip to Monte Carlo (you can take a train for around 10 euros), the Grimaldi castle, ate countless baked patisseries, ate more pizza than I ever have in my life, learned about the perfume process at Fragonard Perfumeries, sampled dates, munched marzipan and checked out the church where Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier were married.

Would I go again?  In a heartbeat.

Patti Smith: ‘Camera Solo’ at the Art Gallery of Ontario (February 9, 2013 – May 19, 2013)

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It’s exciting to see that the AGO is trying its best to encourage a younger crowd into its space while also ensuring their more dedicated members are just as welcome.  With the success of 1st Thursday’s (an event night featuring art, artists, live music, food, drinks and you on the first Thursday of each month) – the AGO certainly has their finger on the pulse of hipsterdom while generating a buzz towards a new generation of gallery goers. 

Enter Patti Smith.  The 66 year old Queen of poetry, spoken word, punk rock, antiestablishment by way of Chicago.  A perfect match of the vintage vs. au courant.

This winter the AGO offers a glimpse into the world of legendary musician and artist Patti Smith through an intimate exhibition featuring photographs, personal objects, and a short film. Patti Smith: Camera Solo provides a rare opportunity to experience a different side of this rock icon – best known for her profound influence on the nascent punk rock scene in the late 1970s and 80s – through her poetic expression in the visual arts.

A first for a gallery in Canada, this exhibition highlights the continual connections between Smith’s photography and her interest in poetry and literature.  The ghost of Walt Whitman, Frida Kahlo and Robert Mapplethorpe’s haunt this exhibit.  For more than four decades, she has documented sights and spaces infused with personal significance.   One cannot help but get lost in the beauty of each image and marvel how at times bleak images are married together in its solitude. 

The 75 works, a number of its 70 photographs from local collectors include of vintage Polaroid camera, presented as gelatin silver prints, alongside personal objects.  They are dreamy, hypnotic and chock full of emotion.  At times I felt like I was wafting through a My Bloody Valentine vs. Mazzy Star musical loop.  The images are stopped in time in places such as Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris in 2008, Europe and the United States.

The AGO is also speaking ‘the kids’ language by popping up a toll-free telephone in front of every installation that you can dial to hear a brief synopsis of each piece.  This plays into a nice juxtaposition to Smith’s use of a vintage Polaroid Land 250 and Gelatin Silver Print processing tools used to fashion her art. 

The exhibition also features Equation Daumal, a film directed by Patti Smith and shot by Jem Cohen on 16mm and super 8 film.  You can watch the film in church pews that were assembled to give a place of worship or pay respect as one would during a funeral.

A quote in Patti’s word on an installation wall read “I get pleasure out of having their things and sometimes photographing them. I’ve been like this since I was young. It’s part of who I am.”  For Patti it’s about paying these pieces gratitude and bringing significance to her daily life.  For you and I – perhaps the same motif.  Do we not dwell on the same album covers, books, jewellery pieces or even mementos from past loves and family for moments of pleasure and joy? 

Smith and her band are to perform two shows, called An Evening of Words and Song with Patti Smith, in the AGO’s Walker Court on March 7, 2013  as part of the March lineup for the AGO’s 1st Thursdays.  Which as you can imagine sold out immediately.  Looking at the Facebook and Twitter fury of the unavailability of tickets selling out in a matter of minutes, the AGO’s website allegedly being ill-equipped to handle the pandemonium of interest – the feedback was intense and was not only voiced by ‘Just Kids’.  Since it is now too late to catch  her performances at the AGO – this exhibit is a perfect way to enjoy a winter day inside with Patti.

This exhibition was organized by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut.

http://www.ago.net/patti-smith-camera-solo

Imagine

Imagine (photo courtesy of Derek Crook)

I was out late last night with my girls having some drinks, eats and laughs. When we left the bar at 2 a.m. we walked out to a misty night. By the time I got to my home station – I walked out to a pea soup thick mist. It reminded me of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ video. In turn also a photo my friend Derek Crook took this week in London (as seen above). Beauty.

Yours,
Mel xo

Mick Rock on Rock Photography

Exposure // Mick Rock + Phantogram // Symmetry Live at W Downtown from Arcade44.tv on Vimeo.

Diana Mini & Flash

Diana Mini & Flash

The other day I saw in my email box that the Lomography store in Toronto had a Groupon on for a discount at their shop here in Toronto.  I called the store and spoke to a nice gentleman who gave me some feedback on the deal and which cameras would be nice for a beginner photog girl like me.  For awhile now I’ve been swooning over pictures in galleries and art books that have these lovely soft and dreamy images something off a Spritualized meets My Bloody Valentine album cover.  This lil baby will do the job.

Its not digital bien sur..it’s old school.  But the negatives can easily be popped onto a CD at any good Lomography shop.

Diana Mini Photo

Here’s the description as per http://microsites.lomography.com/dianamini/

“The Diana Mini has big shoes to fill being the little sister of the classic beauty Diana F+. Luckily the “Mini” was born a star in her own right. Super sweet, the Diana Mini has got plenty of style and features to the nines. With the flick of a little switch you can move from the retro square format to the amazing Half-Frame, giving you the ability to Shoot Forever, packing 72 shots onto one 35mm film! Her handy-dandy size and limitless creative potential is a revolution in analogue photography.

Diana Mini Photo

With the Diana Mini long exposures are no biggie thanks to the ‘B’ setting, tripod mount and cable release attachment – a Diana first. Its wide-angle lens means you can get close or chose between any of the four focal distances. There is the possibility to take multiple-exposures and if you’re into abstract expressionism when it comes to your Lomography, you can overlap frames endlessly creating multiple-exposure panoramas. The in-built Diana flash plug makes it compatible with the retro-styled Diana Flash (available separately)!”

Diana Mini Photo

The Groupon wasn’t really any big savings.  So I happened to check Craigslist and found a photographer willing to sell a Lomography 120mm Diana F+ camera and the smaller 35mm Diana Mini camera both for $60.  A savings of $90 plus tax.  Yep.  Score?

I can’t wait to take some pictures when I go to Boston in a few weeks and just kicking about Toronto.  Thank you good karma.  Seems like I’m surrounded with it these days.

Yours in fashion,

Mel xo

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