The water series, 8/10

Somewhere in Iceland ...
Infinite combinations of sun and wind give us infinite combinations of color and texture.

The water series, 7/10

Somewhere in Iceland...
I love the slight confusion of limits between earth and sky.
It generates a sensation of infinity.

The water series, 6/10

Lido di Venezzia, the beach of Venice opening on the Adriatic Sea.
Another monochromatic sensation of calm, beauty and space...

The water series, 5/10

Jökulsárlón is the largest glacier lagoon in Iceland. It's a place that should be on everybody's top ten list of places to visit. The spectacular beauty of those kind of places makes it always very difficult for me  to take a picture. Feeling desperately unable to put the overwhelming sensation of raw beauty of that moment into a single picture.

The water series, 4/10

In yesterday's post I talked about how composition was keeping me in the picture.
Today it's the opposite. When I took this picture, I wanted to frame the fascinating blue-cyan color of water. But when the film came back from the lab I noticed the boat in the upper left corner and
my first reaction was to reject the picture from any selection. After a while, I went through another selection process and always came back to this picture.
I tried to understand why...
At first sight I'm attracted by the light and water which puts me in a calm contemplative mood.
But I also feel disturbed by this intrusive object on top left. Seeing only part of the boat makes it look like drifting ... It triggers my curiosity. I start to question myself about what is going on outside the picture, opening the door to many possible stories. And that's exactly what makes this picture interesting, the ability to generate stories in the mind of the spectator.

The water series, 3/10

Here is something completely different, the waterfalls of Gullfoss - Golden Circle in Iceland. There are of course great ingredients which makes it very difficult to make a bad picture.

But beyond the subject, what I like here is the square format and the composition. When I'm looking at this picture, I'm always doing circles … Starting on the raw stone walls on the left, going down with the powerful water stream, crashing into the canyon before the strength of the falls throws me up into the stormy sky …

The water series, 2/10

This is another picture I took in Venice-Lido many years ago. It's the floating platform of a very famous hotel. If you look closely you will notice the plastic bags on top of the wooden pickets which are meant to protect the golden finishing when the tourist season is over. Another thing I like in that picture is the green color of the flat water surface.

The water series, 1/10

Water is one of the things that I often take pictures of. I don't really know why but noticed that it is very present in my picture library. I always felt this natural attraction to Water. For me it's about the changing texture, the way light reflects on its surface, the color which is always different. All those things make me feel that, more than anything else, every picture of water is a unique moment that will never happen again.

In the picture below, despite the fact that it is the Venice laguna which, you probably noticed, is also one of my favourite subjects, the water surface gives me this fascinating sensation of living plastic. It's almost scary isn't it?

Before starting the next series of "My Favourite Ten"

I want to thank all of you for your support, comments and enthusiasm. And for those who want to see more of the Venice Polaroid pictures, just click on the following link: November light in Venice.

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 10/10

Lets close this first series of "My Favourite Ten" with the sun going down on Canal Grande. 

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 9/10

Canal Grande in the vanishing november light. 

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 8/10

If you end up in a great place you didn't want to go and you're pretty sure you won't find again ... Then, your trip is a success.

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 7/10

The beautiful water taxis from the Hotel Excelsior located on the beach of Venice Lido.

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 6/10

Candy and pastry stores, they're plenty of them shining through out the city.

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 5/10.

In Venice I always feel like time slows down. I walk around for hours and when I finally have a look at my watch, there is still plenty of time until the day ends.

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 4/10

Impossible to talk about Venice without showing San Marco. There is always something going on there. 

I like to spend some time watching the people moving around the place...

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 3/10

One of the things that fascinates me in Venice is the light. Always different, shaping the city, making places almost unrecognizable or lighting them up like a christmas tree ...

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 2/10

Before my last trip to Venice, I was struggling like usual on which camera I should take with me. 

I remerbered having those Polaroid 600 packs in the fridge for quite a few years now. And it became obvious that I had to load my SX-70 with what appears to be the last packs of this film in the world ...

My Favourite Ten Polaroids of Venice, 1/10

The fist time I went to Venice I was 3 or 4 years old. When I went back there 10 years ago, I had this overwhelming peaceful sensation. Since then, I try to plan a trip to Venice once a year ...