Tea at Trianon: The Art of Noticing

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, March 4, 2017

The Art of Noticing

From Michele Quigley:

Photography is an art form and art has a way of changing you –if you let it. I’m not new to photography. I’ve had a camera in my hand for the better part of the last 35 years but one of the unexpected benefits of doing a 365 project a few years ago was how it changed me. It didn’t just change how I take photographs, it changed how I see the world.

In many ways it’s brought out the child in me. Colors are more vibrant, light and dark more striking. I see ordinary details and I notice the little things. I stop and look much more now because it’s all so interesting. I cannot help but notice how the color of the light changes throughout the day and how it’s different from day to day and season to season. A simple tree in the distance set against a backdrop of a blue sky jumps out at me and I have to remark on how beautifully the sun shines on it.

The moon on a dark cold night catches my attention. The rain as it hits the highway intrigues me. A cup of coffee, warm, comforting and full of meaning speaks volumes to my senses. I think that sometimes we can become jaded by all the images around us in advertising and media. It can be such an assault to our senses that we have to turn it down, turn it off. We stop noticing things as much because we’re so used to them.

Early on in my project I wondered if frequently having a camera in my hand would prevent me from me from being “in the moment”, but what I discovered was that it actually reminded me to really absorb the moment, to capture the feeling of what was going on –not just the technical details of it. As I look back through my photos and it’s almost like being transported. I can get lost there for hours. (Read more.)