Travels Archives - Mel Curtis

My Own Personal Belle Epoch

My archive does look organized, and to a certain extent it is. The film in the binders is more organized than the prints in the drawers and boxes. Open those up and there is an explosion of a visual cacophony. When I pull out binders to look at old contact sheets, it can be dangerous. What might start out as…

December 17, 2024Celebrations, Musings, Travels

architecture France Landscapes Musings Travels

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

architecture England London Musings Odds and Ends Travels Uncategorized

If I Had Only Wore a Mask…

Your plan for hiring scouts in Scotland sounds wise. I have only done that for assignment shoots, though one time in Yorkshire I hired a driver to tour us around the Dales looking for monastery ruins. I mostly did it because I didn’t want to drive a stick shift car on the left side of road. Plus, I knew he…

February 26, 2024architecture, England, London, Musings, Odds and Ends, Travels, Uncategorized

Musings Ohio Travels

Couldn’t Wait to Leave

Just saying hey. Has the dust settled in the aftermath of your show? Any new insights? Are you busy with holiday plans? No big plans here, just hanging out at home. I might fire up the grill for a change. We used to grill out all the time. With charcoal no less. We have a gas grill we never use.…

July 3, 2023Musings, Ohio, Travels

Musings Paris Travels

You Can’t Save Them All

I went looking for an image to add to my website. I was working on the Humans folio and wanted a color portrait from the 1990s. I thought of the sessions I did in Paris in May of 1999. I also thought of Rose, one of the models I worked with. I think she was a dancer. She had a…

April 22, 2023Musings, Paris, Travels

architecture Musings Odds and Ends Travels

The Romance of Film

Hey Stuart,Interesting... A leap into the world of analog. First what experience do you have with film? I assume some, right? Basic 35mm stuff? Darkroom? Enough to recall how labor intensive it is? Jumping in now , even for me, would require a great deal of thought. First there is the expense of the film. Then handing of loading and…

November 30, 2022architecture, Musings, Odds and Ends, Travels

Musings Roma Travels Uncategorized

What am I looking at?

Portrait Pro software is pretty cool, especially when you do as many headshots and portraits as I do. It is a very simple way to give skin tones the spa treatment. I think it works better too, with women than men for some reason. Maybe because smoothing out men’s skin is not so fashionably desired as smoothing out a women’s…

November 9, 2022Musings, Roma, Travels, Uncategorized

architecture Musings Odds and Ends Travels

Zone System

Vermont sounds lovely, even if it is past the peak. I have only been to Vermont once. Back in 1979. I had just quit the only real job I had ever had. I was a graphic designer in a small largely architectural design firm. I work there 2 ½ years before deciding to plunge into the world of photography. I…

November 1, 2022architecture, Musings, Odds and Ends, Travels

Musings Odds and Ends Travels Uncategorized

A Place I had Never Been Before

Nothing on the agenda for today. Or the immediate future for that matter. I do see I got an email from Google requesting my presence at some event they are having and asking me how many headshots I can do in a day? I am not sure I like that question. On one hand it could be some good bucks…

August 12, 2022Musings, Odds and Ends, Travels, Uncategorized

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