Shadow Shot Sunday 163 - Oaxaca

Where can you find this gloriously shadow-striped frame turning the view into the best of picture windows??

At the beautiful archaeological site of Monte Alban, close to Oaxaca, in Mexico...

Just look at the rest of the views from this "zebra" viewing platform!! Mexico has been on my mind this week as Day of the Dead approaches, and it will be the first time in eight years that I have not celebrated this unique Festival...

What are you missing this week?? Try checking out Shadow Shot Sunday for more windows on the world of light and shade......Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 162 - Nice

September is a perfect month here in Nice - the sun is shining, many tourists have returned home, and the sky, sea and seats and sunshades are all a bright, bright, cobalt blue....

Sitting reading or strolling along the Promenade des Anglais is just the perfect thing to do.......

For more shadow shots this week, click here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Modern Art in Nice - Klein, Kapoor, and Byars

A new exhibition of the work of three powerful artists - Yves Klein, Anish Kapoor, and James Lee Byars is currently on display at MAMAC (Museum of Modern and Contemporary art) in Nice.....The strong link between all three is the striking use of monochrome and material interacting with gallery scale and space...

The ultramarine of Yves Klein is immediately recognisable and the intense blue in the opening room dominated by a wide pool of the blue pigment powder is extremely magnetic - with the gallery staff having to warn visitors all day not to touch....such is the attraction..

Similarly tactile is the large white sculpture by Byars which dominates the second room. Here the perfect white marble spheres appear like a giant's necklace carefully arranged on the gallery floor...The white monolithic obelisks accompanying this piece hint at older standing stone structures...

Lastly the sculptural red waxen shapes of Kapoor which appear to be bursting through the gallery walls in the third room, again challenge our sense of space and scale. The vibrant monochrome colours and the powerful physicality of all three artists' work - the red, white and blue make the entire exhibition an experience of an assault on the senses. Don't miss this exhibition - it is here until 16th December 2012. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 161 - Nice

This week's shadow shot is the view from the window of my new apartment in the centre of Nice. After a wonderful summer spent in London, I am back in France, moved into a new apartment, and back at work at the International School of Monaco where I teach Literature......

Above are shots of the apartment and architecture in my new neighbourhood - very Nice and very nice right?? Also very French!! For more shadow shots, click here for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

A final farewell to the Olympics.....

Today sees the final day of the Paralympics which draws to a close London's wonderful summer of sport, whereby the capital delivered an amazing Olympics and Paralympics, and against all the advance cynicism, became a city of smiles and success. The Paralympics has been a sellout for the first time with full media coverage, and crowds of full capacity 80,000 cheering on the athletes in the stadium. These crowds have defined the Olympics as well as the 72,000 volunteer Gamesmakers who preempted the need for any heavyhanded secuirty with their sunny smiles. In addition to the sporting excellence, supportive crowds, and superb organisation, other distinctive features include the quirky  spectacle of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the beautifully designed cauldron and architecture of the venues, and the spectacular landscaping of the Olympic Park itself. As we say farewell to the Olympics today, here are some of my favourite, more unusual shots of the Olympic Park...

And so the legacy of the Olympic Park kicks in tomorrow, as initially the Park will close to set a 292 million pound project into place, which will see the park extended to include a new 35km network of footpaths, bridges, and cycle lanes, the venues converted to public use, and the athletes village turned over to residential use. The first part named North Park will reopen in July 2013, and the second South Park will reopen in the Spring of 2014. The Park's first major sporting event will be the London Cycling Festival in August 2013, followed by the 2015 European Hockey Championship. It has been a once in a lifetime experience to have been part of all this.....

Shadow Shot Sunday 160 - London

When I wasn't at the Olympics this summer, I spent a lot of my time at another of my favourite places in London, notably the National Theatre on the South Bank. Under the superb direction of Nicholas Hytner it is possible to buy a ticket for only twelve pounds, and see high quality productions such as "The Last of the Haussmans" with Julie Walters, "Timon of Athens"with Simon Russell-Beale, and "London Road" a truly unique theatrical piece. This shot above was taken on the cafe terrace with this sublime view of London's skyline...

For more shadow shots this week, click HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday - Enjoy!!