Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Casual Paris Scene


This is what I saw when I came home tonight after work in the passage where I live. I grabbed my camera, put it on the floor (an action now known by some of you as the "Tenin perspective" LOL) and pushed the trigger. I have no idea who this painting was made by nor even what the name of the gallery is, but I just wanted to share with you this photographic scene. Hope you like it.

78 comments:

  1. Looks like for once you have someone on the floor looking back at you. Sometimes the trips home are the best ones aren't they!

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  2. Great scene! Great composition, as well. Almost looks like my garage.

    YAY! I'm under Michael.

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  3. Not sure what that's supposed to mean Suzy, but think I like it!

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  5. Interesting perspective. I will have to try that sometime.

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  6. Graceful.
    I also like the title. Sure.

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  7. Really fun. I love your Passage Verdeau. I have a photo of a very Impressionistic painting in the window of one of the galleries. In fact, I now can recognize that it's a painting of Venice. I also love "Le Bonheur des Dames." I'll let you explain that one...

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  8. Gosh Suzy I have the image right there now..... he he Michael!

    The scene is wonderful Eric. I'm not keen on the painting particularly and prefer the little print on the floor beside it. I'd love to browse there.

    So Michael GF! What's on your crown?

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  9. Thanks for the view! Love the wood frame! Very nice.

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  10. This seems very 50's bohemian to me... the bins of what? Pictures? The young woman in a chic timeless black dress. It's very evocative.

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  11. Ah, yes—the famous Tenin perspective! You know I love it.
    Congrats on GF, Michael. Congrats also on having Suzy under you and happy about it!
    Suzy -- are you channeling Lynn today?

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  12. Yeah right.
    Like there's anything casual about coming home, bumping into some cool painting standing in the middle of a passage and laying on the floor to take a photo....

    The Tenin perspective doesn't just happen! Not casual at all. We know there's a lot of hard work from you to get the right angle!!!

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  13. Like the scene and the Tenin perspective. so was yesterday's photo the Eric perspective?? :>)

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  14. And the right angle you got!

    Notice how the woman in the painting is looking at the frame? She wants to be there so much, she's almost looking at it with disdain, as if the frame is ignoring her and her beauty, her beautiful art work...

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  15. Talking about art, Guille must be studying so very hard now that the strike is over cause she's been away for a few days now.

    Guille come out and play with us!

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  16. I'm glad I found your blog. I love France and Paris. I am a French High School Teacher in America (Alabama) I enjoy seeing your pictures. It makes me wish I was there.

    Jacqueline

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  17. Only in Paris, right? I'm with Lynn, I prefer the print. But the grouping is perfect together.

    Hi Jacqueline. Join us in wishing!

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  18. Love it...and the "Eros and Thanatos" signage is almost as intriguing...Quoi???

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  19. Tonton...I thought the same thing with Eros going to battle with Thanatos, no doubt. Quite apropos for Paris, non? ;-) When the fellows with brooms and mops see Eric coming, they hurry and make those floors shiny knowing full well his camera is going to linger a while down below. Another fun scene. Merci.

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  20. Particularly when I view the enlarged version, the angle of this photo makes me feel as though I am actually standing in the passage ... Oh, how I wish!! 'LOVE this, Eric!

    Bienvenue, Jacqueline! You'll be in good company here. :)

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  21. Lynn and Petrea
    I am glad you liked the small print. YTou girls keep it, I will have the large and loud painting!

    Hey Jacqueline...

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  22. Michael, Suzy ~ LOL!

    I love the arrangement of it all.

    I'm still recuperating from Coltrane's comment that Eric's camera will be lingering a while down below.

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  23. the desk, the painting, the frame... beautiful <3

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  24. Very interesting shot. Eric, you're very lucky to live in such an interesting area.

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  25. Very judicious in placing the camera on the floor so as to reveal the depth. My eye was drawn to the lady in the black dress. Lots going on where you live. Nice shot.

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  26. I do prefer the print, not because it's a print though. Having managed an art gallery, I know not ever to waste my money on a print (unless the run is extremely small and can be trusted), but I love the original drawing and watercolour of it - if it's an original, then marvellous, but I don't think so, from here. It seems a bit hypocritical for me to say that about prints, as I have had mine made into prints but I know I am trustworthy as to the run limit! Many are not. I could tell tales... :0

    Monica that is so well observed! She IS looking so wistfully at that frame. Ah, bless her. I could almost buy both, to realise her dream. Almost..but not quite.

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  27. It's a great picture, I love the Parisian passages for that, they're full of nice book shops, antic furnitures etc. Today's picture is the perfect example.

    Tonton Flaneur, Eros et Thanatos is a recurrent theme in art, the link and interaction between love and death, the two gods and the two meanings. Maybe this is the poster of last year's exhibition in Paris (or was it 2 years ago?)...

    Monica, the strike is over and I'll take my first exams next Tuesday, so I'm studying hard at the moment...Will be back in one month! ;)

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  28. A morning spent browsing in such an place, followed by a nice leisurely lunch and.....

    Monica, what lady wants to be left out of the frame?
    On the other hand, she could be thinking, "I wouldn't be seen dead in that frame."

    Suzy, Let me know when you're having a garage sale.

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  29. Guille, un gros M**** (ou S***) pour les jours à venir ;-)

    Coltrane, is "your" Eric Vincent this one: www.eric-vincent.com ?

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  30. Oh la la, Eric, you are so lucky. I wish I had a beautiful passage like this to come home to! I'm very envious, darling.

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  31. lol Thib and Drummond!

    Drummond could this be your invitation to another novella? I'm probably seeing calls to writing where there are none, but I'll bite.

    'A morning spent browsing in such an place, followed by a nice leisurely lunch and.....'

    ......that was Sunday to Chantelle. Her new brown boots attracted too much attention on the shiny floor of the arcade. Next time she would wear her soft black pumps to go with her black dress. Being recognised was the last thing she needed.

    She thought about the painting she had just passed. The woman's face was disconcerting. Revealed too much about her own situation; the wistful glance, the thoughts of three years earlier when she'd arrived in Paris, wearing her hair like in the painting and before she met her marvellous Jean and..changed her identity for a new life.

    ./..

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  32. A beautiful shot Eric - I can see why you were arrested by it. There are 4 or 5 ovals strewn judiciously through a field of almost nothing but squares and rectangles. And the colors are lovely, too. Merci once again for bringing the beauty of your Paris to us.

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  33. Guille - goooood luck on those exams - I know you'll ace them!

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  34. Merci Eric, merci.
    Just love it!

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  35. Monica. "The Tenin perspective doesn't just happen! Not casual at all. We know there's a lot of hard work from you to get the right angle!!!" ;;;;;;))))) !

    Bonjour Jacqueline !

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  36. Hi everyone,
    Wonderful pictures today. I just can’t follow as quickly as I’d love to. I’m always amazed by the collective cleverness that emerges from PDP. Sometimes it's just as if I couldn't believe my eyes... Sure I’m sharing your sensibility and humour!

    Drummond, I agree with Lynn that your sentence “'A morning spent browsing in such a place, followed by a nice leisurely lunch and.....” is an invitation to a continuation. LOL. Well, let’s say that after this nice lunch, you could have a walk up to a Parisian public gardens, then take a little nap, close your eyes and leave your imagination go free in a restful gesture. Without any pressure, any terms. If you like, you can ask for a little massage on your shoulders…
    Then, thinking of all wonderful things you have to plan in a short time. Your pleasure-leisure-have to-do list ; happy and light hearted.

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  37. Eric, one important question : answer carefully or most of my (and lots of others') fantasies will vanish into thin air :
    to get the "Tenin perspective", is it only the camera that has to be lying on the floor ?
    In my mind, THE image is Schell Sherree's drawing ! Tell us I am not wrong !!!
    Guille, M............puissance 13.

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  38. Lynn, I know I'll regret this but
    I can't say 'no' to a 'Lady'

    /but....she couldn't get rid of the chilling sensation that the eyes of the woman in the painting were watching her, following her, she could almost feel them
    piercing the back of her head, like a laser beam.

    She resisted the temptation to look back - she had spent too much time over the last three years looking over her shoulder. Her pace quickened, the click, click, click of boot on marble now louder and louder, the noise seeming to fill the small arcade.

    "Don't be so stupid", she thought to herself, "that life is in the past and forgotten. How could they know where I am now? - they're hardly likely to have followed me halfway round the world. Get a grip of yourself woman!"

    Thus scolded, she relaxed and slowed her stride. Old habits die hard however, and she couldn't resist just one reassuring glance backwards...

    That was when she caught a glimpse of something - something behind the old table with the bric-a-brac.
    - A man!
    - A man lying on the ground!
    - A man lying on the ground taking a photograph!
    - A photograph of...her!

    ..../

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  39. Carrie!!

    Love your tease, Lynn! Poor Chantelle. She didn't deserve the heartache he gave her.

    Drummond, I had a garage sale last year. Never again! Tell me what you need and, if I have it, I'll just send it to you.

    Brilliant observation about the frame, Monica.

    Best of luck, Guille! I know you will blast through these exams like the warrior princess that you are. ;)

    Welcome to Eric's Parisian Café, Jacqueline. Pull up a chair and stay a while.

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  40. LOL Drummond! Damn those paparazzi bloggers.

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  41. LoooL Suzy and Michael and everybody today !!!

    I love this photo and I love it when you show us the life in your passage Eric. It's hard to imagine actually living in a place this wonderful.

    I do like the painting of the blue faced lady. It would be really nice in my bedroom.I like it with out a frame though, so if I'll buy her she'll keep looking for one.

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  42. Non, she says "I am finally out of that frame and you want to put me back in?", again she says "NON".

    This is a lovely compostion. The placement of visual elements is a work of art in itself.

    It is every artist/painter's nightmare to find one of there painting at a garage, yard or flea market for sale.

    We dream that are work is cherished and in a place of honor in your home or business.

    Can you image having your work ripped out and destroyed so someone can have the frame. Lol.

    Back to painting...

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  43. Merci guille...even though I have a university Art background the Eros vs. Thanatos theme escaped me. Paris is such a visual feast..I really miss it today, but the weather in SF is perfect..tant pis...c'est MBD aujourd'hui..[metro,bulot,dodo]..LOL!!

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  44. LOOOOL everyone !!
    Tonton, you really missed Paris today? Then what about the other days ??? ;)
    Where is Lynn?
    She has a story to continue, hasn't she? ... And she is a very good novelist, as well as Drummond!
    Love you!

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  45. Body language: “Looking down and to the right can indicate that they are attending to internal emotions.”

    Model: “If I knew he invited me to model in his apartment just to use me to make love to his stupid canvas with his paintbrush instead of with me with his... Well, I never would have come here. I am so unwanted and rejected for who I am, a flesh and blood real-live woman with blood, real blood, not some kind of smelly paint thinner, in her veins. I want this to be over with so I can leave and be out of his life. I am so mortified,” she thinks, or rather feels, pouting.

    Artist: “I can use the green in her headband for shadows,” he says, his mouth in a pout of deep concentration as he dabs at the neck.

    “Oh oh. Maybe I’ve been working on this long enough. She looks restless, distant. Not happy at all. I might be losing her. Better finish this in a hurry. I’ll use a wide brush on the hair, somewhat dry-brushing it to get the effect of rough highlights. Gotta finish this like now.”

    He puts the brush down without cleaning it. Their eyes meet, then their lips, no longer pouting.

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  46. ....who WAS that man? She craned to see. He was definitely taking her photo. She should just walk on, but walking away is for the innocent and she could never claim that, even to herself. She turned.

    Striding up to the man as he got to his feet and dusted his trousers, she demanded, "Why are you taking my photo? Who are you and who sent you?"

    The good-looking man smiled innocently.

    "Well, it's just that... I..."
    Then stopped in horror as the young woman began to cry.

    "It's them, isn't it?" she sobbed. "Finally, you have found me. I knew it. Life here was just...(sob)...too good."

    "My name is Tenin." said the man, handing her a handkerchief from his pocket. "Eric P.D.P..."

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  47. Anonyme thank you. I like your restful part of the story, very peaceful.

    Oooh Tall Gary! More...?

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  48. La Francophile - the other day I happened to find three of my paintings were being sold at auction somewhere. You're right. It was instant dread. Were they selling for next to nothing? Part of a job lot? Free, even, with a bag of sweets? Mais non, it was ok.....they were being re-sold and at an ok price. Phew.

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  49. Dreams of a Blue Lady

    With her cherry red lips she pouts and says "Eric take me home". But with a twinkle in his eye, a swagger in his step, and that sexy smile. He turns with his camera and is gone into crowd.

    And of course now, we know why the Blue Lady is really blue. Lol.

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  50. Lynn,

    You scared me for a moment. With your horror story of your painting sold at auction. I am so glad it work out for the best. I love a happy ending. Lol.

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  51. Lynn, don't think that the owner stopped loving your work. People have given in to selling their most prized possessions because of the wretched economy.

    Without a Map, I love your ending. C'est parfait. I'm sure Eric and his mystery woman will meet again.

    Tall Gary - I love your story, too! No need to tell the rest. We can imagine.

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  52. Without a map, love your story! and thanks.
    Suzy oh I know and anyway tastes change, decor changes etc. it's all part of the process. I would hate to think they'd go for nothing though. Little watercolour sketches I don't mind but canvasses...different.

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  53. Thank you Lynn.
    1/ for the new episode you wrote (that's what I'd called a nice encounter between the two... Hmm i bet that lady tears could do a lot even upon the strongest character!)
    2/ for your kind words.

    LOL Tg!

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  54. Ah yes, tis the trick of many a woman, Anonyme...

    So - will Drummond make it in time to finish the story? Shall we find out if Eric's handkerchief is returned to him, sodden with Chantelle's tears? Will he take it back with a horrified grimace ... or tell her to keep it? The suspense is enormous.

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  55. "...THE Eric Tenin, of the famous BLOG?"

    Eric shifted one trendy sneaker to the other.
    "Oui," he said, "C'est moi. Why are you crying, Mademoiselle?"

    "Oh, er.." Chantelle now took her turn to look shifty. "Nothing, I... well I thought you were someone from my past."

    "We are all from the past, Mademoiselle," said the enigmatic Eric, with a French shrug.

    "Yes, yes. Please forget what I said. It was a mistake."

    "But of course." replied Eric, with a gentlemanly bow, nonetheless filing the information away for later. "Mademoiselle, may I buy you a coffee? You know, while my...handkerchief dries out?"

    Chantelle at once wiped her leaking nose again and offered it to Eric, who visibly flinched.

    "No, no! Erm... you keep it, you may ... need it."

    They walked to the nearby cafe in silence, but Eric noticed the girl was constantly looking around her.

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  56. Oh well, I had to continue it in Drummond's absence - I couldn't wait any longer to find out what happened ;)

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  57. /... "Eric...PDP? what kind of crazy name is that?" she replied, still unsure of this seemingly friendly Parisian - she had good reason to be wary of Frenchmen.

    "Well Eric is my name actually," he confessed with a smile, "the the PDP is, I suppose, a slight affectation on my part. But surely you have heard of PDP ma cherie, non?"

    "I've tried LSD but not PDP...yet,"
    she confessed, but I have been, how do you say, 'out of circulation' for a while"

    "So tell me, 'Eric', she said warming to his easy, relaxed manner, "might you have been one of the 20,278 Eric babies born in 1965?" (she knew that her previous experience as a statistician with prenoms.com would come in useful one day)

    "Perhaps, but enough of this playful banter - you look distressed my dear. My appartment is nearby, may I offer you a cognac?"

    "That would be nice" she replied, fluttering her eyelashes.

    He hesitated, "I have just realised, I don't know your name."

    "My name is Ly...no...err....Chantelle, yes, Chantelle, yes that's my name. So where's this appartment then?"

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  58. Sorry Lynn, but was watching the footie (aka soccer) so had to priorities right. So got our wires crossed.

    But still sort of works, I think.

    Good night!

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  59. 'get my' priorities right.
    That's right!
    Good night!

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  60. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL ! You guys certainly have a lot of imagination!

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  61. he he Eric you are now the star of novellas. How does it feel? :)

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  62. FOOTie, Drummond? You abandoned your literary obligations for footie? Oh ok then. Did you win?

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  63. Lynn, unfortunately, neither Partick Thistle or Norwich City were playing in the Champions League Final (or ever likely to be),so can't answer that one, but let's say the Barcelona foreigners beat the Manchester United foreigners 2-0.

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  64. Oh yes ok I've just seen them celebrating in the fountains in Rome. I'm AMAZED I knew that. I'm not knowledgeable on footie.

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  65. Thib...yes, indeed it is. Do you know his music?

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  66. LOOOOLLLL! I'm glad I popped back!

    So much to enjoy, as always. I'm loving Lynn and Drummond's collaborations.

    {Lynn ~ Most of what I do is little watercolours and I'd still be heartbroken if I saw them looking unloved or unwanted somewhere. I feel like they're my children.:)}

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  67. Thanks a lot Lynn and Drummond!!! I'm proud of you both!!
    You are priceless here to me.

    Well I don't mean I am the only one who could say that..., but still I'm saying it ... :)
    Have a beautiful day.

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  68. Wow thanks Anonyme!

    Shell your watercolours are lovely.

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  69. {Thanks, Lynn ~ as are yours ~ I'm sure they'd be treasured by whoever has them.}

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  70. Nicely done, Eric. Love the "Eric" perspective!

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  71. love this photo especially it is on the street like that

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