Roll #7: Mona Lisas

The title has nothing to do with the photographs…

I just (finally?) put a name on a type of girls; along with muses and succubus.

Monalisas.

I’m sure you know the kind guys.

The so-called “hard to get” kinda girls. The ones that are here and there and back.

The ones you know are available, and yet … won’t be until a long, long time.

At least for you.

monalisas.

never know if they are friendly, emotionally attached or simply… distant and uninterested by you.

万緑一紅

Banryoku itsukou.

Translated “One red flower standing in a sea of green vegetation.”

Got my red flower.

Her name’s Liv.

And she ain’t no monalisa.

Anyway, let’s cut the chit-chat and look at the pictures, shall we ?

Grannies buying french cheese.

Three eagles skimming over their preys.

Funny thing is that these eagles generally hunt in groups when there are preys in an open field.

Granny at the Monoprix

I have this theory that you only encounter original (to say the least) people in Monoprix

It was hard to get it done, especially with all the guards, cameras and people watching you, the guy who has a camera.

Stealthy but steady camera.

Oh, did I mentioned the picture was taken in july with a perfect summer weather that doesn’t require a raincoat nor a hat.

Sunglasses, I understand.

Reminds me of Chungking Express’ (重慶森林) character Ching-hsia Lin played by Brigitte Lin and her famous sentence:

“Somehow I’ve become very cautious. When I put on a raincoat, I put on sunglasses too. Who knows when it will rain, or when it will turn out sunny?”

I’m pretty sure she’s a jingoist.

but hey, no judging … it’s a judge free zone you’re flying here.

So I have my proof that strange people loiter in this mall.

Moving on…

to dogs.

Watching.

or not.

You know.

Dogs.

Without any forms of transition…

I admit this one was a manual + hip shot.

First time I nailed it.

I redressed / cropped it a little.

but I thought that 1/2000th of a second would have been a little too … slow.

Apparently not.

First time I made that many street shots with a single film.

But there aren’t that many pictures.

I just didn’t nail that many shots.

Even if they look kinda mundane.

But hey, these are street shots.

I mean.

I’m not a big city right?

Not bizarre/grotesque people.

Just … normal people with normal lives.

boring stuff.

Daddy and his children posing for mom.

or whoever.

Can’t recall who was taking them.

I mean, I was, obviously.

Intruding their intimacy.

Just like you fellas.

Still without transition, here are night shots.

Party.

Two friends playing guitar with Livvy listening to them.

She looks interested…

but here I guess she woulda been a monalisa to them.

Homeboy here was writing when we arrived at … 8pm something.

Left at midnight.

So did we.

Noticed the two cups of coffee on his table ?

I guess he had a LOT to write…

maybe for his work.

Maybe he’s a writer.

How the fuck can I know?

Perhaps he was creating something between two characters.

perhaps he was writing a short story nobody will read.

perhaps it was about Heaven & Hell.

or not.

The waters of imagination.

Darkness and Light.

Life & Death.

The usual.

Anyway, I’m still super-busy between the classes, the friends…

and Livvy of course.

Maybe more later… for now I’m gonna get meself some sleep.

knowwhatImean?

so g’night fellas.

don’t let the bed bugs rape you.

dRoll #7: Mир-1в

I postponed this note so much I don’t remember when I originally had the idea of posting these pictures.

Not especially with the Mir 1V, but … you know… posting pictures.

T’s been a while.

But here it is, again.

First a couple of pictures made with another Russian lens, the Helios 44m-2 58mm … that makes a 85 on my K10D.

So, what’s left to say? I mean, the pictures shows people reserved (hands …) with a “negative” space — I’d say here a blank space — in front of them.

They were discussing what to write in a letter which … somehow show their discontent (our discontent, actually) about some cut in budget and shit like that.

Reserved and black space.

Out of ideas ?

Maybe. But that’s a very risky topic to discuss.

Anyway; I had fun with the M mode.

Better than the A mode when you have some frigging time ahead of you.

or not.

So I tested this russian lens.

And of course I paid it only 50€.

That’s how you see how the glass technique have evolved between the 1950s and … the two thousand-ish lenses.

Flare.

Low contrast.

That’s the original picture BTW.

No edit.

So OK I fucked the focus … but I need to adapt… it’s one of the first I made with it!

Let’s go back to the problems later.

I was with my good friend Patou who was very near to ruin his camera because of the lens … M42 are bitches, apparently.

But I really like having a 50 on a cropped dSLR camera.

2.8.

You know.

Interestingly enough, I found the angle really “wide” as I’m mostly used to the 75mm…

for a fast-lens that is…

This one sucks, but I like it.

Besides, it’s a bridge between portrait 101 and the guys working to make this fun fair … fun.

Left side…

very very near to the docks … to boats … when you think about it, it’s fun to see that most of the fun park and close to rivers without being in the docking area…

Right side.

Lots of trucks when it’s not up and running…

speaking of up…

I’m pretty sure the “Extreme” will give some extreme thrills to some of its customers…

and I really like how the problem of contre jour disappear to make contrast/vibrance of  colors much more interesting than a normal lens.

Even though the “cruching” on wordpress fuck the colors up.

Colors.

(fucked up colors.)

Nothing really exciting.

Other problem apart from contre-jour pictures ?

Yeah, blur. LOTS of blur on the corner when you don’t do a great focus:

100% crop.

Anyway.

Guess what I’m looking for is my trip to London…

So see ya later guys

Item of clothing

It’s funny how things can be connected sometimes.

As you’ve read in my previous note, I’m reading Thoreau’s book “Walden”.

Very good book by the way.

Thoreau says at one point that clothes were originally made to keep us warm, not to make us look like Harlequins.

Good point I’d say.

And I’m the kind of guy who can wear a T-shirt in winter without being … well, disturbed by the cold.

But I’m horribly cold at night, when I sleep…

and just to put a simple layer of clothing on my skin … keeping the warmth of my body within my flesh … was worthless.

It seems so stupid as we put clothes every day without thinking why we do it … that it was a good thing to actually being reminded why we do that.

at 4AM.

Anyway.

Just made a frame with my good friend Manue AKA Fat.

Shootin it with a M42 lens.

Helios 44-2 58 F/2 … @ F/2.

50yo lens that still works like a charm.

I mean, it’s better than a 50 F1.4 at F/2 …

Most importantly, instead of a stupid 75, I have a 87.

Yeah.

Still waiting for the 37 F/2.8 M42 lens Patou & I bought on ebay to a russian guy…

Hope we didn’t spend 50 bucks for nothing …

you know.

Anyway, I’m sleepy, I should get some sleep.

More to come later, I guess

Jesus Walk

(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil trying to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that that I pray is that my feet don’t fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don’t think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
(Jesus Walks with me)
I want to talk to God but I’m afraid because we ain’t spoke in so long

— Kanye West

Just the hook cuz the rest ain’t relevant. God show me a sign today, as I asked for it. Actually he gave me two.

Amen.

12.25AM

Se retrouver. Ecrire pour soi; converser avec soi-même; oublier les autres, leurs égos, leurs envies, leurs défauts.

Oublier. le passé, ne pas penser au futur; à l’année dernière ou à celle à venir; à lundi précédant ou à dimanche suivant.

Imaginer. S’évader du quotidien, apprécier son chez-soi; son espace; ses envies chimériques et ses projets saugrenus.

Parler. Avec ses amis de longues dates ou les rencontres du mois passé.

Vivre.

et vivre dans son univers.

Welcome back Kaede.

[Hayashi is now 6 pages long.]

Sky Might Fall

What a world that I’m livin’ in,
Will the rainstorms ever end,
Still I feel my… path narrow,
I run again,
See happiness is gone again,
And then you see ‘em,
Grey clouds up above man,
Metaphor to my life man,
Still I feel my…heart stronger then its ever been,
Strong will to my journey ends,
‘Til then I roll,
More then I’ve ever rolled not pills but the mari-ol’,
Still I feel my…eyes heavy when the days go,
Nothing helping with my head dose,
But I aint sleepin’,
Awake in another state,
Livin’ in a new space,
Still I feel my…mind runnin’ at a steady pace,
God help me so I’ll win the race

‘Til then I call
The sky might fall
The sky might fall
But I’m not worried at all
C’mon C’mon
The sky might fall
The sky might fall
But I’m not worried at all
Hey Hey
I let them know some, let them know some, let them know some
You can listen up, listen up, listen up, listen uuup
Hey I let them know some, let them know some, let them know some
You can listen up, listen up, listen up, listen uuup

Grey clouds took together fam,
Lining piercing to another land
Over the desert wit’ the lost play,
Soul searching each in every way,
An then you see tha,
Awesome sounds so profound within,
It’ll grip you…you can see it,
If you hear you can feel it too,
Somethin’ special I am runnin’ to,
‘Til then I go,
Away very far away,
To another universe where all people say,
Its a new new place for the special to embrace,
Like a martian you seein’ it,
Wandered out the place,
Take what you need from the valley of the hopeful,
Even if you dry you’ll be floatin’ high above it,
You can say Bye Bye Bye,
Sky might be fallin’ but remember you can fly high.

The sky might fall
The sky might fall
But I’m not worried at all
C’mon C’mon
The sky might fall
The sky might fall
But I’m not worried at all
Hey Hey
I let them know some, let them know some, let them know some
You can listen up, listen up, listen up, listen uuup
Hey I let them know some, let them know some, let them know some
You can listen up, listen up, listen up, listen uuup

—KiD CuDi

Listening to his latest release when I’m not playing at Red Faction Guerilla. Got to recover from the parties and the alcohol.

y’a know.

the usual.

Worst Day

My first mistake was letting you into my life (Yes it was)
My second mistake was allowing you into my bed (Laying in my bed)
My third mistake was loving you more than I should
Oh, I really should know better
My fourth mistake was sitting with you,
While you’re telling me that you can’t do this anymore

This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
And it’s true ‘cos all I wanna do is be by your side (My life)
This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
And it’s true ‘cos all I wanna do is be by your side (My life)

I’m walking home and listening to MP3s
Just how did I let you decide to destroy me?
I’m missing you, it crossed my mind that our heart will bleed
The love that I have left behind is gonna finish me
It’s one of those days

This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
And it’s true ‘cos all I wanna do is be by your side (My life)
This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
And it’s true ‘cos all I wanna do is be by your side (My life)

See yesterday I called her back
The day before I called her flat
It ain’t working, break my neck
Still it ain’t cut me my cheque
A week ago I did my thang
Three o’ clock, I missed my train
Tomorrow I thought we could chill
There won’t be, yes, you won’t, I will
The moral of the story like I told my cousin Corey
You see Cupid he will stab you in the back like Jason Voorhees
So he’s got smoking cigarettes and got me drinkin’ 40s
And the doctor said take two, and he said call me in the morning
It’s the worst day

This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
And it’s true ‘cos all I wanna do is be by your side (My life)
This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
And it’s true ‘cos all I wanna do is be by your side (My life)

This must be the worst day of my life (x2)
My life

— Calvin Harris

Forget the rap part and remember the first 2 verses. Cuz that’s exactly last year and it really blow my mind when I listened to it while running back to my flat. Seriously, it’s exactly what happened… except the tomorrow phone call, ok … and the rap part.