Marie Antoinette Part I: The Palace

Have you seen Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette? Some people loved it and some hated it. I'm firmly in the loved it camp. I found it to be a refreshing interpretation of a historical figure, unlike I'd seen before in film. I loved the look and sound (what a soundtrack!) of it. It's youthful energy is perfectly suited to the subject, who, afterall, was a mere fourteen years old when she first moved into the palace of Versailles. As told through the eyes of that young girl who becomes queen, it's a brilliant personal "history of feelings" as opposed to a "history of facts" as Kirsten Dunst put it. I couldn't help but think of that movie as I strolled through the rooms of Versailles last May.

A Walk in the Clouds

Above the clouds in the White Mountains
Transported to Middle Earth
I hope I don't run into any Orcs

Best of Nature

I'm so thrilled to have one of my photographs ("The Power of 10" shown below) included in the Best of Nature exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum. If you are in the area, the exhibition runs from January 9 to May 13. Not a bad way to kick off the new year! I hope your 2012 is grand!!

Intimate Fragments

When one thinks of Versailles, one usually thinks of pomp, decadence and indulgence. Despite its size and grandeur, I was surprised at how intimate it could feel. I thought that, at times, its occupants must have tired of the obligations of state, and perhaps of the grandness of it all. So I sought out the quiet spaces and little details, imagining the hidden moments that have been lost to time and history.

Nice in Nice

I'm taking a short break from processing wedding photographs and packaging print orders to fondly reminisce over my strolls through Nice, with its palm trees, medieval labyrinths of the old city, Italianate facades, colorful markets, beautiful pastel colors and charming windows. Here is beautiful Nice from sunrise to sunset.