Welcome in a new chapter of PAOS (Photography And Other Stuff). I’m still in the Southern Italy, in Monopoli, and I spent part of my last week at home with an unexpected host: the f***ing Corona! I’m ok and I’m waiting to be negative in the next few days. I had the chance to take some pictures in these boring days and translate my feelings in photography: a nice experiment. Before this strange week I went to a town I never been before, Noci, where I took a couple of pictures. Next weekend, if I’ll be negative as I believe, I’ll be in Roma again for a wedding, but next time I’ll write to you I’ll already be in Monopoli again.
And you? How was your week? Feel free to write me your personal PAOS in the comments, I’d like to see this little space as a open forum with a free exchange of ideas and experiences.
Before I let you read more, I close the introduction with this photo I took today downstairs, when I made a little walk to move my bones.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Street Photography: Well, as I said in the introduction, last week I went in a small town, Noci, in the area of Bari, to make a walk in this city that I never visited before. I did just a small walk, so I took just a couple of photos.
My Corona Days: My days at home with Corona were quite boring and sometimes tough. This is just a small apartment where I spent July every year but it’s not my house, it’s not the place where I live so it’s not easy to be still in a place that it’s not 100% yours, without your stuff, your things, wifi or television. I know, it’s not a drama, but it’s been boring (mostly if your local friends are just outside the door). So I tried to take some pictures to document this experience, with different kind of styles. I realized a couple of multiple exposures (in camera) to underline all the confusion in my mind. Then I took a photo by the sea, in a very bad and windy day (there was nobody there), during a small walk I did yesterday to breath some fresh air. Of course a photo of the swab can’t be avoided!
This is the result of this small reportage:
Photo of the Week: This photo was taken by Greek photographer Paul Mei I don’t know where nor when (I believe it was taking during the Pride somewhere), but I’d like to know more. I love the light on the girl face, the high contrast is perfect and it’s incredible how the side characters are like a curtain for the protagonist of the scene, the only one who looks in camera. Great shot!
MOVIES
Mauvais Sang: The good side of being locked in the apartment is that I had the opportunity of watching a lot of movies. The most surprising for me has been a weird French movie realized by Leos Carax (a great director, I loved his “Holy Motors”, a few years ago), a movie that I really wanted to watch since longtime, because one of the best movie I’ve seen in the last years (“Frances Ha”) quoted Carax’s film in a scene. What scene? Well, in Baumbach’s masterpiece there is a moment where Greta Gerwig runs and dances in the street, with the amazing David Bowie’s “Modern Love” in the background. In “Mauvais Sang”, this movie realized in 1986, there is a similar scene with the protagonist that runs and dances in the street with the same song in the background. I loved that scene, but it’s not the only reason why I loved this movie. First of all the directing is very interesting, with strange and original points of view, and Carax thecnique is absolutely a blast! The story is also great, witth this guy divided between two girls (Julie Delpy and Juliette Binoche, pas mal!) and, at the same time, two men that involved him in a robbery. The typical good movie I’d never sick of!
MUSIC
Sidney Bechet: I didn’t listen a lot of music in the last days, but I surely appreciated this playlist of this French jazzman, Sidney Bechet, that you maybe remember in the soundtrack of the beautiful Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”. Bechet’s music is really a good therapy for two ears that need to listen something beautiful and it helped me to overcome last week.
Living is easy with one eye closed 