Friday 5 December 2008

A little bit of magic

Place de l'horloge
Yes I practiced a bit of magic on this image. If you want to figure out what you're seeing, take a fourth of the picture, the bottom left corner, and you'll see outside terrace cafe tables piled up and turned upside down for winter storage. On this cold but sunny afternoon their heavy tripod cast iron feet send long stemmed shadows on the cobblestone of place de l'horloge. Got it? Then copy, flip and paste the image four times and you get this amazing architecture shot that to me vaguely resembles the Pantheon's dome in Paris. I created this image last winter but never had a chance to show it before - do you like it?
(and if you want to see more identifiable shots of Place de l'horloge, turn to m.benaut's: his next few posts feature his visit to Avignon in September, you'll go back in time to summer!)

Oui j'ai usé d'un peu de magie pour cette photo. Pour comprendre ce que vous voyez, prenez un quart de l'image, le coin en bas à gauche par exemple - vous verrez les tables de terrasses de café de la place de l'horloge stockées pour l'hiver et retournées les unes sur les autres. Par cet après-midi froid mais ensoleillé, les trépieds en fonte des tables lancent sur le pavé des ombres qui ressemblent à d'étranges tulipes. Vous voyez ? Ensuite copiez, retournez et collez l'image quatre fois pour obtenir cette surprenante composition qui rappelle vaguement le dôme du Panthéon à Paris. J'ai crée ça l'hiver dernier mais je n'avais pas eu l'occasion de vous la montrer jusqu'ici. Ca vous plait ?
(et pour voir la place de l'horloge sous un jour plus reconnaissable, allez chez m.benaut : ses billets de ces jours-ci sont consacrés à sa visite à Avignon en septembre dernier, vous retrouverez l'été !)

29 comments:

Unknown said...

That's really cool!

Bob Crowe said...

It's terrific - creative and very eye catching. Yes, I can see the Pantheon if I try, but then where's Napoleon and Les Invalides? The image makes me think of a very complex Rorschach ink plot. Analyze that.

Virginia said...

Well I still don't really see the tables but I do see the legs/shadows. This is so amazing. Good for you for figuring it all out and making it. A kaleidoscope of sorts.
V

Julie said...

I like this and it could only have been in B&W. Is that how you captured it, or did you simply desaturate? When I saw the image in the portal it somehow reminded me of CB's Puddle Jumping man.

Olivier said...

belle idée et beau collage

Babzy.B said...

sympa le collage ,belle créativité,je suis pour !

Jules said...

Your photos are always magical but this one takes the cake - fabulous!!!

My blog Through my Glass Eye has a couple of photos on it taken kinda north east of you if my sense of direction is any good!!!!

claude said...

Belle compo Nathalie ! Bravo !

Anonymous said...

Quatre morceaux mais six métries...

Cela fait penser à la tâche d'encre du psychologue... Je n'y vois pas de tulipes, mais des oiseaux s'envolant au-dessus de la grille de quelque palais... et leur reflet dans la pluie.

Adam said...

You're an artist (after your previous Photoshop trickery of the bridge!). Perhaps you should create a series.

Irina said...

Beautiful experiment!
I really could get what is it :)

Thérèse said...

Voir les choses sous mille aspects à travers un kaléidoscope.
Bon week-end!

Bergson said...

Une photo qu'il faut découper.

Tu as rangé la belle robe blanche ?

Jilly said...

Absolutely beautiful. I love the patterns made by the cast iron feet of the tables. What an artist you are - but then I knew that already!

Anonymous said...

Tu ne te serais pas un peu inspirée des bijoux volés de chez Harry Winston?
Cachottière!

M.Benaut said...

This photo says so much about this wonderful town square.

La Place de l'Horloge is such a friendly and welcoming place to be. The buildings that encircle the square, the restaurants and cafes, the huge, shady trees, the cobblestones are all steeped in a friendly warmth that involves and invites people to its bosom.

Perhaps the Place de l'Horloge does it better than the Pantheon in Paris.
Its central location seemed like the hub of the city with so many enticing spokes to explore and adore; each one with a different surprise at only a short distance.

True, Nathalie, I will be showing this lovely town square at Adelaide Daily Photo.
But it would take a lifetime to do it justice.
For those of you who have had the pleasure of visiting Avignon, you will know what I mean.
Avignon is a city that one can never forget, it has too much charm, too much lure and way too much beauty.

Magic ! One word says it all, Nathalie.

Jane Hards Photography said...

It is very interesting and certainly mesmersing.

Linda said...

Pretty much a work of art!

namaki said...

une très belle création ! bravo l'artiste !

Shutterup-Shutterbug said...

Very cool!!

Sharon said...

This is beautiful. Very creative of you!!

claude said...

Je reviens d'Australie où jai vu les Australiens, of course, toi et Avignon. C'est sympa, les blogs, quand même !!!

Laurie Brandriet Keller said...

Very nice!

Anonymous said...

When you mentioned that you had worked some magic, I immediately assumed you meant the B+W conversion....

But a well spotted choice for your trickery

Sally said...

Fabby!

M. CHRISTOPHE said...

Bravo Nathalie

C'est très réussi- J'ai cherché un moment avant de lire ton explication...encore bravo, j'adore ce détournement de la photographie classique.

Maxime said...

Je n'arrive toujours pas à voir les tables, mais tant pis, j'adore les kaléidoscopes ...

Squirrel said...

so cool--it is something i couldn't do and couldn't figure out--it reminds me of mc escher and puzzles and silhouettes.

Kim said...

Very clever, and I'm glad you put it up for us to see. I love the effect; the total image is stunning.
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

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