France Archives - Mel Curtis

A Little Simmer of Softness

Another reason I loved the urban landscape. From the last time I spent traveling in France in 2003. I was visiting a friend who lived in a little town about an hour south of Paris. I was waiting for her to get off work and to kill time I wandered around the little village where she worked making images in…

October 1, 2024architecture, France, Landscapes, Musings, Travels

France Musings Odds and Ends Travels

A Centuries Old Souvenir

I am not sure you are still doing this theme, heirlooms right? I thought about it when the theme first came up but felt my heirlooms are mostly old photographs, mine and my family’s. Then I thought of this. A key to the Abbey of Mont St Michele in Normandy France. I acquired it in 1997 while working on a…

May 5, 2022France, Musings, Odds and Ends, Travels

architecture France Gardens Landscapes Musings Odds and Ends

The Last Silver Print

This is one of the last silver prints I ever made in 2006. I made it in a friend’s darkroom as I had already shut my down. My friend had a much better darkroom than I did, but I recall not having any fun printing that day. Probably because I was reprinting and not creating something new. I was making…

August 28, 2021architecture, France, Gardens, Landscapes, Musings, Odds and Ends

France Landscapes Musings Odds and Ends Travels Uncategorized

Chance Meetings and Enduring Friendship

I am still pondering the story about Dona and how to best present it. It is an interesting story about chance meetings and enduring friendship. But it also reminds me how dependent my life’s work has been about chance meetings and following the end of my nose. Very little of the work I have done in my life is the…

August 18, 2021France, Landscapes, Musings, Odds and Ends, Travels, Uncategorized

Celebrations France Musings Odds and Ends Still Lifes Uncategorized

The Nature of Obsession

Stuart, I got an interesting email Friday evening. It came from my contact form on my website, meaning someone had actually looked at my site. Most of the emails I get from there are bogus. Auto bots out to sell me web services. But every now and then there is a real inquiry about something. In this case, a guy…

June 7, 2021Celebrations, France, Musings, Odds and Ends, Still Lifes, Uncategorized

France Musings Odds and Ends

More Poetic

Connie, I recently received an email from a gentleman in France about a CD that had my photo on the cover. A photo of your hand with a rosary. He didn’t say much, just that he had found me. It prompted me to find the original print, since Getty no longer has it in their library. I couldn’t find a…

February 2, 2021France, Musings, Odds and Ends

Celebrations France Paris Travels

The Perfect Drink

That’s a very cool story. Other than Carter’s Rome martini, I don’t really have any perfect drink memories/stories. I have a few funny ones like drinking vodka and schnapps with Russians, who frankly, would have drunk turpentine had it been placed in front of them. The drinks spark the memory of the moment. Beer with a Czech artist in Kadan.…

August 18, 2020Celebrations, France, Paris, Travels

France Musings Odds and Ends Paris Travels Uncategorized

Toast to the Good Ole Days

Ralph, I had read the reviews of the various machines. It seems the water rowers had the nice sound and pleasant experience. But changing resistance could only be done manually by adding or removing water. Ok, could live with that, but my main consideration was the seat distance from the ground. It had to be high enough for Carter to…

July 22, 2020France, Musings, Odds and Ends, Paris, Travels, Uncategorized

Celebrations France Paris Portraits Travels

Especially in Europe

Oh about that Carter image. It was meant to be just a snap shot. Carter and I were roaming around in the damp autumn day and I was looking for images when I turned around and there he was, intently reading his tourist guide. I framed him up with the Eiffel Tower in the back ground and said hey… He…

January 31, 2020Celebrations, France, Paris, Portraits, Travels

architecture France Musings Paris Travels

The Leap of Faith Aspect

Good to hear from you. I hope things, air quality wise are improving on your side of the planet. Seattle is just wet and more or less normal here. I have attached a contact sheet from my Il de France project. It is a look back at my time in France from 1997 to 2003. All black and white, all…

January 22, 2020architecture, France, Musings, Paris, Travels