I love this photo, not only because it shows this giant head by sculptor Louis Derbré (it is called Le Prophète and was made after an Egyptian statue) but because of the little lady at its base. I took this photo in the Luxembourg gardens, just like the one of yesterday. You may wonder what a giant sculpture is doing in these gardens?! Well it's part of the Artsena exhibit, a yearly art exhibition organized by the Senate (which is also located in the Luxembourg gardens).
I love the women "expression" on the photo...
ReplyDeleteIs she reading a post of the sculpture or what ?
ReplyDeletenice title. it says it all. you are little compare to the world and the knowledge it contains.
ReplyDeleteingeborg
Eric, What a great photo. You've captured the perfect moment - every photographers dream. From a distance it's almost appears that she is praying.
ReplyDeleteOh this is a wonderful photo. I love how she's reading the placcard at the base (at least I assume that's what she's doing). It'd be an equally cool photo if she was trying to look up into it's nostril or something!
ReplyDeleteHow lonely. All alone in Paris, pondering over a giant head...How sad...where are all the people?
ReplyDeleteWhere are all the PDP people? Is this really an alien? Carrie where are you? Guille, where are you? Where is everyone?
Great shot, Eric! Ditto your thoughts, Inge. It reminds me of that very large child which I think was on the Boulevard Saint Michel. I imagined an adult holding hands with the giant child.
ReplyDeleteHere the adult's body is dwarfed by the giant's head. What I get from both is introspection caused by making the viewer - who's normally at the top of the food chain - feel smaller than s/he normally percieves her/himself. Then, Eric became the viewer once removed and we the viewers twice removed.
hi gramma ann! Nous sont la. : )
ReplyDelete(PS - I don't think this is an alien - no antennae.) But, then...
ReplyDeleteMojito, anyone!!??
I'm here! And I may regret it, especially if the woman in the photo knows of PDP, because I think she and the head sort of have the same shape.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's just the heavy coat. I have the same problem in my photos.
Louis Derbre's sculptures are quite incredible! Thanks for the link, Eric.
Ah, there he is. My Easter Island head collection is now complete. Heads were certainly going to roll...(not that this burg hasn't seen that in its hey day, but can you imagine the size of that guillotine!). Merci Eric for discovering Monsieur Golden Boy with a friend in Luco. BTW...What's that building in the distance with all the scaffolding? La Samarataine maybe?
ReplyDeleteHey, Coltrane - I don't think that's La Samaritaine. I don't think you can see the store from the Lux. Gdns.
ReplyDeleteBut, I bet an even huger child is shedding tears the size of swimming pools somewhere because he dropped his mammoth Haagen Daz all over the head of Easter man.
His website states that he has a few pieces in Union City, California, which is just up the the bay a bit for me. Could someone who read s French better than I tell me if it says WHERE in Union City?
ReplyDelete« L’Eau Vive » à Union City (USA)
Louis DERBRE, une création qui s'exporte en cette année 2008 :
Aux Etats Unis, tout d'abord, à Union City qui est située dans la belle baie de San Francisco, en Californie du Nord.
Située à environ 30 milles au sud de San Francisco et à 20 milles au nord de San Jose, Union City a été Créée le 13 janvier 1959.
Cette belle ville ensoleillée, de 70 300 habitants, aura bientôt le privilège d'accueillir trois superbes créations de Louis Derbré, grâce à deux passionnés d'art et admirateurs de Louis Derbré.
« L'Amour », dont la première version a été créée en 2002, suivie en 2003 d'une version plus grande. Celle-ci mesure un peu plus de cinq mètres de hauteur. Deux « Eau Vive » de cinq mètre cinquante environ, chacune, tiendront compagnie à « L'Amour ». La première version de l'Eau Vive » date également de 2002, elle mesure trois mètres soixante.
Ces trois superbes sculptures monumentales devraient obtenir la nationalité américaine, aux alentours de juin 2008.
I'm guessing at a gallery (or two)? I don't remember any museums in Union City. It's not exactly a mecca for the arts. Or is it?
coltrane_lives, you always put a smile on my face;) "can you imagine the size of that guillotine!" Where do you come up with those witty thoughts~~~~
ReplyDeleteVery interesting juxtaposition! The large head is very serene looking and the woman looks thoughtful and maybe a little confused. I wonder what she is thinking...
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I just don't know if I could stand underneath anything's nostril!!
ReplyDeleteMore two cents: we make images for ourselves all the time; we tell ourselves stories all the time. There's really only one image, one story - we look in these mirrors and say: "who am I; what am I; where am I; what does it all mean?"
ReplyDeleteChristie, If you are standing under his nostril, just hope he doesn't sneeze!!!!
ReplyDeleteShe looks like she is bowing her head for a kiss.
ReplyDeleteI love the difference in scales compare to the huge head sculpture,and the woman.She looks so tiny compared to the head.It kind of puts things in perspective.On how little you truely are compared to the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteNice photo Eric:)
Gramma ann, nous sommes là!
ReplyDeleteCarrie, I'm in, for a mojito. Of course.
This picture is interesting. She's reading the cartel, she is so quiet and peaceful, in front of this amazing sculpture. A feeling of disturbing seriouness comes from it. I can't stop thinking of a Brancusi's "head".
Once again you tell me which exhibitions I have to see Eric. Thanks! (I like your "Luxcembourg" spelling btw. ;)).
I'm off to Switzerland for few days. I wish you all a nice weekend.
"organized by the senate"???
ReplyDeleteCarrie...of course, you're absolutely right! My sense of direction never has been too good. I'm even worse inside a shopping mall where there is no sun for a point of reference.
ReplyDeleteLove ya Gramma Ann! ;-)
Hi Guille & Carrie, I don't know French, you will have to translate:
ReplyDeletenous sommes la! for me...Thanks;)
Gramma Ann, "here we are!" :)
ReplyDeleteSee I'm learning...Next time I will know...maybe;)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Eric: I am at work and my colleagues were just in my office admiring my PDP calendar for the month of September. The photo is making me hungry. (For people without the calendar, it is a baguette resting atop some butter that has a bowl of jam on each side.) Of course, the only man in the group thinks it looks somewhat phallic! Hee hee - I thought that was funny.
ReplyDeleteJardin de Luxembourg is without a doubt one of my fav spots in Paris. Love the flowers, love the exhibitions in the middle of the park, love the atmosphere and the kids playing with the small boats in the lake...
ReplyDeleteGuille just got your email, will answer it tomorrow!
(I can´t seem to log in today so my name is not showing...)
I love this photo! Love, love, love it! I am charmed by the simplicity of the woman and her complexity, too.
ReplyDeleteI would have said "nous sommes ici!" Merci pour la leçon, Guille. (Carrie, ask and you shall receive.)
Suzy, I read French better than I write or speak it; looks to me like there's no mention in the article of a specific location for the works. It tells you where the town is and what pieces are in the town, but there's no gallery or address listed. Please correct me if I'm wrong, folks!
Great whimsical shot! And I just got a huge craving for the Luxembourg Gardens, too. Such a nice place to hang out and relax.
ReplyDeleteI remember when you photographed that Nose in the fountain, and the feeling I got when I stood in person in front of the same Nose a few weeks later. I wouldn't mind standing right where that lady is standing, a few weeks from now, but helas not possible this year.
Grandma Ann, hello!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you, thank you, Guille!!
ReplyDelete: ))) The mojito's on me - but I'll have to ship it off to Switzerland in a thermos for a chilled, not spilled, payoff!
I'm with you on the Brancusi, too, for sure - though the massive melting ice cream wouldn't show up too well on that head! ;} I can't figure out what caused the white stains on that scale on the head in the photo (not what I thought at first - no California condors in Paris unless they keep those on top of the Opera, too)! Does your training give you any clues?
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ReplyDelete"Bless me Father, for I have sinned..."
ReplyDeleteWhat a great photo! A winner!
ReplyDeletegramma ann, you're right: coltrane is very witty. Michael too. Many of the PDP regulars, in fact. Wish I could be as witty as they. :*( I often feel humbled in their presence!!!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I just realized your picture is that of my grandpa!!! (Ok, not really. Everyone's always said that when they were younger my grandfather looked like Elvis and my grandmother looked like Grace Kelly. This, of course, begs the question "Why didn't I get any of their good looks?!?")
tomate farcie: Hello...I must be off to bed now...It is 10:30 pm my time...So good night everyone, until tomorrow~~~~
ReplyDeleteAh, jardin du Luxembourg. There are so many great art exhibits there.
ReplyDeleteGuille, you must see this exhibit when you return and tell me about it!
I just saw a film of Woody Allen's jazz band in Europe. I saw Place St. Sulpice, and I think rue Bonaparte or one of the streets with so many art galleries, between blvd. St. Germain and the Seine. I think they performed at the Olympia or else it was the Gymnase.
Alors, Eric—it's all happenin' in the Jardin de Luxembourg these days!
ReplyDeletepont girl -- you think she's waiting for a kiss—and I think she looks like she's waiting to hear her punishment from the big head.
Thanks for the link to Derbre, Eric. Some of his stuff even looks a little bit Giacometti-ish to me (skinny arms). BTW, right after I arrived in Paris, I went with a friend to see a friend of hers. I didn't know who we were going to visit, but we wound up in Giacometti's studio in Montparnasse! He was nice to me—reminded me of his own sculptures and actually, he died less than a year later.
Eric, it looks like somebody's getting a big head around here...(groan)
ReplyDeleteTomate, you're right. I immediately thought of the photo Eric took where we were all trying to find the artist's name. I still love that one.
As for this shot - so well captured and an interesting link with the tiny bees of yesterday and the giant head today.
Soosha..."witty"...c'est moi? "more like nit witty"...my BIG head blushes! I still think you're a rootin tootin hootin kind of gal east of the Pecos! (can you tell I wasn't a PBS kid...I got my early education at the Mel Blanc Academy, ahem!)
ReplyDeleteGuille...how come you get to go on so many cool vacations? That's what I want to know. And I'm stuck here grading high school essays. (I think it's God's way of paying me back for tormenting too many of my English teachers in my youth. It's found in chapter two of my Karma-pharmacopoeia bible. I swear it is. It follows chapter one, verses 10-12 that deal with plagues and hellish torture for those who ever played in a country or disco band.)
Alexa...you continue to astound me with all your stories. You and Lois do need to sit down and put them in a book. What's your computer situation like? or shouldn't I ask. I'm making my way over to your blog next. Ciao!
Soosha (and others that asked), here's your requested "oops" card!
ReplyDeleteVery cool!!
ReplyDeletePetrea, "nous sommes ici" est bon aussi! Same same.
ReplyDeleteColtrane, actually I've been working lately, 30hours/week. But I've 2 days off (Friday and Monday) so decided to leave Paris for the weekend! But, yes, cool vacations anyway. ;)
Guille, who will miss her train if she continues to speak here!
Guille, (who may or may not see this later) -- I was wondering the same thing, so glad coltrane asked.
ReplyDeleteand coltrane -- I'm in stitches over your Karma-pharmacopoeia bible!
(retrieved laptop from hospital this evening; so far so good & thanks for asking). If Lois & I ever get together, we'll probably be up until dawn figuring out if we've met before (wouldn't be surprised) and whom we know in common (plenty o' folks, I'm guessing).
and Gramma Ann -- not to worry. Who would want to be anywhere but here? (Except of course for the real thing?)
Bonne nuit, les copains --
The little lady is the reason this photo is special. Without her curious posture and rapt attention to the details of the sculpture, it would be just another photo, wouldn't it? I like it very much.
ReplyDeleteI, too, find this lady's presence at the base of the statue to be the perfect "finishing touch" for this photo. Good one, Eric!
ReplyDeleteI like it too, for the same reason, Eric. My take on it is that the little lady is being told off for something. Imagine the boomingly loud voice emanating from that huge head! Ooooh dear. What did she do to deserve that? :)
ReplyDeleteLynette perfectly expressed my sentiments. My picture shows me next to the head smiling ear to ear in that famous "I was here" type photo. Bravo, Eric.
ReplyDeleteAnnouncement #1: Katie and the crowd will be meeting at Deux Magots Sept. 25 at 7pm. I will have a few pr. of 2008 picnic glasses on the table so we can easily be found.
This made me smile. Nice one! :)
ReplyDeletehey! Just discovered your Blog... I love it!!
ReplyDeletexoxoxo
Anon:
ReplyDeleteOn Announcement #1...Take Pictures..and let us know where we can view them....
oops, that was me, PHX-CDG, grandmma ann!
ReplyDeleteYou can get a true feel of how big the sculpture is with your little lady standing there ;)
ReplyDeletephx...no matter, same request anyway;)
ReplyDeleteFor a switch, think of this woman as "mom". She is actually scolding the big child in a reserved, under-her-breath, but stern way, while not looking at him because she doesn't want to make a public scene. The big kid is listening, trying to be a big tough guy, but oh, how do you stand up to MOM?
ReplyDeleteOh the card is perfect! I just got my "J'♥ parisdailyphoto.com" bumper sticker, I'm waiting for my 2009 B&W calander (and for the weather to cooperate so I can put my bumper sticker on my car), and now I'm going to have to buy an "Oops!" card? Oh dear, I need to find a way to make some more money!!!
ReplyDeleteColtrane, rofl! You do have a big head! I think your early education was great, though! I keep trying to get Owen to watch Bugs, Yosemite Sam, and the rest but I think he's just too young to appreciate them just yet. *sigh* There's only so many times I can watch the same episodes of Spongebob.
ReplyDeleteNorthbrook? And might I add, that photo of yours still looks dingy.
Yes Soosha, she was reading the placcard ;)
ReplyDelete> Gramma Ann. "How lonely. All alone in Paris, pondering over a giant head...How sad...where are all the people?" If you knew how long I had to wait for all the people to leave the picture!!
> Suzy "Louis Derbre's sculptures are quite incredible! " They are aren't they. I did not even know of him.
> Coltranbe ".What's that building in the distance with all the scaffolding? La Samarataine maybe?" Nope! But I don't know what it is.
> Alisha ""organized by the senate"???" Yes, the Senate organizes a lot of things including art exhibits. They must be bored!!
> Pont Girl "Eric: I am at work and my colleagues were just in my office admiring my PDP calendar for the month of September. The photo is making me hungry. (For people without the calendar, it is a baguette resting atop some butter that has a bowl of jam on each side.) Of course, the only man in the group thinks it looks somewhat phallic!" Phallic a baguette?! Yeah, maybe a little but not very sturdy... I'm glad people admired your calendar BTW!
> Tomate "I remember when you photographed that Nose in the fountain, and the feeling I got when I stood in person in front of the same Nose a few weeks later." Oh yeah, I remember it too. It was a great scene.
> Jeff "I think rue Bonaparte or one of the streets with so many art galleries," Yes, it's a lovely neighborhood, I must say.
> Alexa "I think she looks like she's waiting to hear her punishment from the big head. " What?! What a weird idea!!
> Michael "Eric, it looks like somebody's getting a big head around here...(groan)" LOL!
Oh Soosha! Can you post a photo on Zazzle? I've not seen those items in real life and it would be great to see...
ReplyDeleteEric: Thanks for the long wait to take the picture. It was worth it...
ReplyDeleteColtrane, You are really funny. "It's found in chapter two of my Karma-pharmacopoeia bible. I swear it is." Merci for all the laughs you give so freely.
ReplyDeleteMichael, A big head! Very clever. hahahaha
Alexa, Hmmmm, I was thinking last week "I knew an Alexa in NYC; yep she was a model and was signed to Wilhelmina modeling agency. She was very pretty.
BTW, This is a charming photo -- the rolly polly woman is just adorable. (I'm sure it's her coat.)
tell me the truth you told the woman to stand like this otherwise you are ... too good .. good weekend mr paris
ReplyDeleteSure Michael, I can goof it up in a photo with me and the products I bought!
ReplyDeletethinking again at the pic it could be a sempe drawing inge
ReplyDeleteI love that shot, Eric!
ReplyDelete(Save it for your "best of list"!)
Any professional photographer will tell you that is what we call a money shot. You couldn't pose this any better. Stunning sculpture. The little lady really puts the size of the piece in perspective.
ReplyDeleteI hope the head doesn't sneeze...0_°
ReplyDeleteThe funniest thing about this is that the woman is confronted by this huge sculpture, but where does she look? Right at the base!
ReplyDeleteI hate sculptures though.
Is she bowing in reverence, or hanging her head in shame? It's hard to tell...
ReplyDelete