To Nip and Tuck or Not - Voting of a Different Kind

It's Saturday morning and, as you do, I was online browsing 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom 1s for sale.

Usually of course they come like this ...








... and very nice indeed, well, at least for me.

Then to my real surprise I happened across this 1925 Phantom 1 curiosity ...


... which had started life in the above manner, bodied by Hooper.

In the 1930s, it was bought by the Raja of Nanpara and transformed by the Belgian coachbuilder, Jonckheere, into something more befitting the style of that decade, undergoing a number of more minor 'face lifts' over succeeding years ...


... before reaching it's present state of restored glory in 2005 ...







... winning many awards, including its first concourse entry in le Prix de Cannes (whatever that might be).

As I browsed over the site again, the question for me was which did I prefer - the 'before' or the 'after' version.

While it seemed somewhat sacrilegious to tamper with a classic Roller design, I must say the result was something unique and wonderful.

What's your opinion?

Diaghilev Ballets Russes Prima Discusses Performing the Role of 'Firebird'

It's a bit like coming across an ancient carved stone in some dusty old castle cellar - a stone on which Noah had put down his instructions for making an ark. Or an erotic love letter ... written by Cleopatre. Or ... you get the picture.

So it is with this footage of an interview, I guess in the 1970s, with Diaghilev Ballets Russes prima ballerina absolute absoluta Tamara Karsavina (1885-1978) ...



... discussing performing the title role in 'L'Oiseau de Feu' ('The Firebird', 1910) ...

Tamara Karsavina 'Firebird' London, 1911

Madame Karsavina says she was fascinated by Stravinsky's music for the ballet but found it very difficult.

Tamara Karsavina 'Firebird' London, 1911

On performing the role, she states she 'never counted the bars' because it 'deflected her attention'.

Tamara Karsavina Adolph Bolm 'Firebird' London, 1911

And then goes on the say Stravinsky was 'really kind' - he would come before a rehearsal and play the piano for her and 'explain me all these different parts' which 'was a great help for me'.

Tamara Karsavina Adolph Bolm 'Firebird' London, 1911

Apart from everything else, what totally fascinates and surprises me about this footage is the quality of Karsavin's voice - deep, dark, rich and resonant ... with such strong and definite self confident accents.

Hope you find this interview as extraordinary as I did!

'Geometric Composition'

I'm an old unrepentant formalist and was provoked to do this post when I heard French father of modern photojournalism Henri Cartier-Besson (1908-2004) ...


... declare ...

... 'la joie c'est la géométrie ... tout est en place' ('the joy of geometry - when everything is right).

And was unable to prevent myself posting out a few of his city and landscapes ...

Hyères, 1932

Brie, France, 1968

Rue de Cléry, Paris, 1952

... his portraits ...

Colette with her companion Pauline, Paris 1952

Truman Capote, New Orleans 1947

François Mauriac, Paris, 1952

Albert Camus, Paris, 1944

Christian Dior, Paris 1953

Simone de Beauvoir, Paris, 1946

... and people and activities around the globe ...

Beijing, China, Dec 1948

Rush to retrieve gold from a bank, Shanghai, 1948

Shanghai, China, 1949

Daughters of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, 1960

New York, 1961

San Francisco, 1960

Bankers Trust, New York, 1960

New York, 1960

Baroda, India, 1948

Dessau, Germany, April 1945

'Looking for any kind of work' Hamburg, 1952-3

Juvisy, France, 1938

La Villette, Paris, 1929

Market in the Rue Longue, Marseille, 1954

Opening of the Cannes Film Festival, 1953

Naples, Italy, 1960

Rome, 1952

Pskov, Russia, 1973

Mexico City, 1934-5

Calle Cuauhtemocztin, Mexico City, 1934-5

Alicante, Spain 1933

Coronation of King George VI, London, 1937

Lady and Horse British Museum

England, 1953

Brussels, 1932

Women Praying In Kashmir

Georgian family picnicking near a medieval monastery, 1972

So much is going on in Cartier-Bresson's work - catching something of momentous events, social satire (Diane Arbus without the edge), National Georaphic-ish recording of culturally-specific activities ... all within a strictly formalist framework.

But ultimately this is a post of pure indulgence on my part - I find these images endlessly fascinating and come back to them again and again.

Hope you'll be equally interested.