The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette Daily Telegraph published a full report on the tragedy, and the inquest into the deaths in its edition of 6th September 1882.

 

We reported a few days ago a sad bathing occurrence at Croyde, North Devon, by which three young gentlemen lost their lives.

They were visitors to the place, and belonged to a school of lads in London.

On Sunday last, a week after the occurrence - two of the bodies were picked up, and yesterday J. H. Toiler, Esq., held an inquest on them at the King's Arms Inn, Georgeham.

Thomas Heddon, a lodging-house-keeper, of Croyde, in the parish of Georgeham, said he had that day seen a body and identified it as that of Havelock McGeorge, a lad thirteen years of age, who had been staying with him, in charge of Miss Hardie. Deceased resided at No.5, Lansdowne Road, Wimbledon.

On Sunday morning last, between seven and eight o'clock, he went out on the beach to see if he could find any bodies. He saw something on the shore at high water, and on going to the spot found it was the body of Havelock McGeorge. The body was in the water, and was quite naked. He took charge of the body and took it to the mortuary with the assistance of two other men. He should say the deceased came to his death by drowning.

On Monday, the 28th August, the morning when the lads bathed, there was a heavy ground sea on.

Thomas Staddon, a labourer, of Croyde, said he had that morning seen the body of a lad whom be recognised as that of Herbert Maconaghey. He was about thirteen years of age he had heard, but he looked fifteen.

On Sunday evening last, about half-past five o'clock, he went out to look for the bodies. He was in company with James Lovering, and they saw a body, in a deep gully on the shore, which he afterwards recognized as that of Herbert Maconaghey.

He had it removed to the mortuary.

Death, he should say, was caused by drowning.

Mary Ellen Hardie said she resided at 5, Lansdowne-road, Wimbledon, and was governess to Miss Palmer

The deceased were staying with her at Croyde, and she last saw them alive on Monday, 28th August, about quarter-past ten in the morning.

They were leaving the house to go upon the sands. Seven of them went out together, but only four came back again. She thought they were going out to play. Besides the two whose bodies were found, that of Charles Binney was missing.

They had bathed every morning during the six weeks they had been at Croyde.

Mr. Flinch, who represented the friends of the deceased, said that where the lads bathed was not dangerous, but the ground sea took them to Glover's Pool, and there they were drowned.

He hoped the jury would make a recommendation to have a board placed near Glover's Pool.

He further stated that he should have wished the eldest of the seven boys (Cornford) to have been present, but he was too unwell to attend.

He would have told them that Maconoghey was in no danger, and that he lost his life while trying to save one of the deceased. He called out to Cornford, "You save one boy, and I'll save another."

The Coroner advised the jury as to their verdict, which was that the deceased met with their death accidentally while bathing, and they recommended a board to be placed on the sands, warning visitors only to bathe at half-tide.

The three unfortunate lads were not brothers, as has been stated, nor were they related to each other in any way.

Messrs. Symons and Son, of Barnstaple, made two coffins for the deceased lads, whose bodies will he interred in Georgeham Cemetery,Devon. The three friends were buried together.

 

1900 was when Postman's Park became the location for George Frederic Watts's Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, a memorial to ordinary people who died while saving the lives of others and who might otherwise be forgotten.

This takes the form of a loggia and long wall housing ceramic memorial tablets.

The Heroic act by Herbert took place 138 years ago & is a good reminder of all the people who are making sacrifices at present.

© Stephen B Whatley

 

- Please View Large -

 

Dolores Fuller (1923-) is the now legendary former leading lady of the early 1950s B-pictures of Hollywood film director Edward D Wood Jr (1924-1978).

 

'Eddie' Wood never got a true break in Hollywood's mainstream film industry; but between 1953 & 1960, he directed 6 films - horror, sci-fi and thriller themes- that reveal an artistry and utterly unique vision, to those more perceptive viewers who can look beyond the restraints of budget.

 

Dolores Fuller fell in love with Wood and starred in 3 of his motion pictures: Glen or Glenda (US 1953); Jail Bait (US 1954) and Bride of The Monster (US 1955) - but by 1956, with Wood's devastating wartime scars and disappointments in Hollywood resulting in alcoholism, Dolores felt that she had to pull away. As a model and bit actress on television she had been supporting him financially - and trying to keep him off the bottle- since they had met.

 

While continuing to appear in small roles in films (including an effective emotional scene in Playgirl, US 1954; with Shelley Winters) and on television (including parts in Superman & Dragnet), Dolores Fuller followed her even more natural talent of song-writing - going on to write 18 hit songs for Elvis Presley; and in the 1960s and 1970s to managing future singing stars such as Johnny Rivers and Tanya Tucker.

 

By 1980, two years after Edward D Wood Jr had died tragically in abject poverty, ironically in Hollywood, the 'ignored' director received posthumous fame and cult status - as his films wre rediscovered by 'film critics' who wrote books deriding his efforts to bring his ideas to the screen.

 

So too at this time, the limelight fell on his surviving stars and players - including the beautiful Dolores Fuller. Tim Burton's affectionate biopic 14 years later only increased the interest in this multi-talented lady - who to this day exhudes the Hollywood glamour that eludes contemporary stars. She was in demand on screen; for interviews in documentaries about Ed Wood Jr: The Incredibly Strange Film Show (1988); Look Back In Angora (1994) & The Haunted World of Edward D Wood Jr (1996).

 

Ever since the mid -1980s artist (& B-movie afficianado) Stephen B Whatley had hoped to locate Ms Fuller, to express his admiration; and in 1996, his research led him to reach her in Las Vegas, NV, to where he sent a cartoon tribute he had created (top left; inspired by her appeareance in a 1994 interview).

 

Thrilled, Dolores Fuller kept in touch, so kindly sending photographs; and then after she had received another 'cartoon surprise' from the artist in 2003, she wrote asking permission to publish it in her recently published memoirs, A Fuller Life: Hollywood, Ed Wood & Me ( Bearmanor Media Books)

 

Lower right of the compilation picture above is the colour tribute, owned by Ms Fuller, which has been published in black & white on a full page; below which the star writes touchingly that "my friend...neatly captures my career with this cartoon" Shown here above the cartoon, is the 1995 photograph that inspired the central 'latterday' likeness.

 

Dolores Fuller's autobiography ( assisted by author Stone Wallace & her devoted husband Philip Chamberlin) is a powerful and fascinating read, punctuated with great humour - about a lady determined to follow her dreams, to succeed with her talent; charting the highs and lows in both her professional and personal life.

 

Lavishly illustrated with many great black & white photographs, the book reveals a passionate beauty, married several times; who charmed several famous men- including Johnny Carson and Frank Sinatra.

 

She writes of the tragic lives of her 'Eddie' Wood, her late dearest friend actress Mona McKinnon (who starred in Plan 9 From Outer Space (US 1956)) & the tragic loss of her younger son- with great tenderness (...that is so evident in her eyes, to anyone who has watched her latterday interviews on film & television); before ending on a high note - her dream of getting the musical she has been writing, 'Ed Wood...But I wouldn't' on to Broadway; hopefully with Johnny Depp as lead.

 

Dolores Fullers most recent public appearance was at an awards ceremony in Los Angeles at which she humbly accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award. As glamorous as ever, she was dressed strikingly in black and swathed in white angora, with a new chic short hairstyle...once a star, always a star!

 

To get a closer look at the illustration published in this book, please click the link: www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbwhatley/2268366365/in/set-7...

Published in the current edition of the Catholic Times newspaper - a 'detail' from a new painting, "The Good Mother - Marian Devotion 2018" by expressionist artist Stephen B. Whatley.

 

An extended story about this recently commissioned work of art appears in this weeks The Universe newspaper too.

 

The Catholic Times & The Universe are available in Catholic churches, cathedrals and Christian bookshops.

 

Both newspapers are can be obtained from the publishers :

www.thecatholicuniverse.com

 

www.stephenbwhatley.com

Self-published hand-made book Did we ever meet? Winner of Rock your dummy Award 2013. Full info and order at www.offonroad.com/books/did-we-ever-meet/

 

it's on there somewhere. riding the Metra UP-W line through sprawl-land

© COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All rights of my work are reserved to © Sian Bowi and may not be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my written permission.

Published by Hamlyn in 1972, 2nd impression (1st publishd 1969). Story by Marie d'Aulnoy, adapted by Jan Vladislav... Illustrated by Mirko Hanak.

 

Picked up in a local charity shop last week, sadly no dust wrapper, but some very nice vintage illustrations.

Published in American Home.

Oor Wullie (English: Our Willie) is a Scottish comic strip published in the D.C. Thomson newspaper The Sunday Post.

 

It features a character called Wullie Russell .

 

Wullie is the familiar Scots nickname for boys named William.

 

His trademarks are spiky hair, dungarees and an upturned bucket, which he uses as a seat - most strips since early 1ii937 begin and end with a single panel of Wullie sitting on his bucket.

 

The earliest strips, with little dialogue, ended with Wullie complaining ("I nivver get ony fun roond here!").

 

The artistic style settled down by 1940 and has changed little since. A frequent tagline reads, "Oor Wullie! Your Wullie! A'body's Wullie!" (Our Willie! Your Willie! Everybody's Willie!).

 

Created by Thomson editor R. D. Low and drawn by cartoonist Dudley D. Watkins, the strip first appeared on 8 March 1936.

 

Watkins continued to draw Oor Wullie until his death in 1969, after which the Post recycled his work into the 1970s.

 

New strips were eventually commissioned from Tom Lavery, followed by Peter Davidson and Robert Nixon. Ken H. Harrison drew the strip from 1989 until 1997, when Davidson resumed duties.

 

Between January 2005 and 2006 storylines were written by broadcaster Tom Morton from his home in Shetland, and subsequently they were written by Dave Donaldson, managing director of Thomson's comics division.

The current writer is former Dandy editor Morris Heggie.

 

The Oor Wullie bucket Trail begins on the 17th June 2019 and is even bigger than the last one 3 years ago.

 

In 2016 Dundee held a bucket trail with over 50 sculptures all painted with different designs to celebrate 80 years of Oor Wullie.

 

This was a huge success with the sculptures raising over £800,000 at auction for the local childrens charity.

 

They have decided to bring it back this year but on a far bigger scale with 150 sculptures and this time you will be able to find them not only in Dundee, but Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and a few dotted in other towns and cities across the country.

 

At the end of the summer these will once again be auctioned off and the money will be split between 3 childrens charities.

 

Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail runs for 11 weeks from 17th June 2019 – 30th August 2019, culminating in a series of Farewell Events and nationwide auctions in each of the five host cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.

 

Scotland’s first ever national public art trail aims to unite the country as it raises awareness and vital funds for Scotland’s children’s hospital charities.

 

Funds raised through the trail will support Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity,Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity,and the ARCHIE Foundation, helping children in hospital across the country.

 

Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail is a Wild in Art event, and would not be possible without the support of DC Thomson Media.

 

I have taken a keen interest in this event and intend to capture all of the sculptures across the city, posting some of my favourite shots here on Flickr.

Note: this photo was published in an Apr 23, 2011 Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "10023."

 

Note: I chose this photo, among the 10 that I uploaded to Flickr on the evening of Apr 22, 2011, as my "photo of the day." I liked the bright, colorful contrast between the woman's raincoat and her bright polka-dot umbrella.

 

****************************************

 

This is a continuation of Flickr sets that I created in 2010 (shown here), 2009 (shown here), and 2008 (shown here) -- which, collectively, illustrate a variety of scenes and people in the small "pocket park" known as Verdi Square, located at 72nd Street and Broadway in New York City's Upper West Side, right by the 72nd St. IRT subway station.

 

I typically visit a local gym once or twice a week, and I get there by taking the downtown IRT express from my home (at 96th Street) down to the 72nd Street stop. Whenever possible, I try to schedule an extra 30-60 minutes to sit quietly on one of the park benches, and just watch the flow of people coming in and out of the park -- sometimes just passing through, to get from 72nd Street up to 73rd Street, but mostly entering or exiting the subway station.

 

You see all kinds of people here: students, bums, tourists, office workers, homeless people, retired people, babysitters, children, soldiers, sanitation workers, lovers, friends, dogs, cats, pigeons, and a few things that simply defy description. Sometimes you see the same people over and over again; sometimes they follow a regular pattern at a particular time of the day.

 

If I focus on the people entering the park at 73rd Street, and walking southwards toward the subway entrance, I typically have five or ten seconds to (a) decide if they're sufficiently interesting to bother photographing,(b) wait for them to get in a position where I can get a clear shot of them, and (c) focus my camera on them and take several shots, in the hope that at least one or two of them will be well-focused and really interesting.

 

While you might get the impression that I photograph every single person who moves through this park, it's actually just the opposite: the vast majority of people that I see here are just not all that interesting. (It's not that they're ugly, it's just that there's nothing interesting, memorable, or distinctive about them.) Even so, I might well take, say, 200 shots in the space of an hour. But some of them are repetitive or redundant, and others are blurred or out-of-focus, or technically defective in some other way. Of the ones that survive this kind of scrutiny, many turn out to be well-focused, nicely-composed, but ... well ... just "okay". I'll keep them on my computer, just in case, but I don't bother uploading them.

 

Typically, only about 5-10% of the photos I've taken get uploaded to Flickr -- e.g., about 10 photos from a one-hour session in which a thousand, or more, people have walked past me. There are some exceptions to this rule of thumb, as was the case with this particular set -- but nevertheless, what you're seeing it is indeed only a tiny, tiny subset of the "real" street scene in New York City. On the other hand, it is reassuring to see that there are at least a few "interesting" people in a city that often has a reputation of being mean, cold, and heartless...

Note: this photo was published in a Jul 13, 2011 blog titled " Adopting through Foster Care."

 

Moving into 2012, it was also published in an undated (late May 2012) blog titled "Adoption Through Foster Care." And it was published in a Dec 7, 2012 blog titled "Here's How Parents And Kids Interact On Facebook."

 

Moving into 2013, the photo was published in a Jan 2, 2013 blog titled "10 Financial Resolutions That Should Top Every Parent's List This Year." It was also published in a Jan 14, 2013 blog titled "13 Common Mistakes That Can Blow Your Finances." It was also published in a Feb 28, 2013 blog titled "Gender: Sheryl Sandberg Presents: Deeply Troubling Stats About Women," as well as a Mar 1, 2013 blog titled "9 Reasons You Should Care About The Sequester." And it was published in an Apr 8, 2013 blog titled "Men Get Depressed About Not Having Kids." It was also published in a Jul 25, 2013 blog titled "Teach Us To Pray."

 

Moving into 2014, the photo was published in a Feb 25, 2014 blog titled "Resolve to Plan Your Estate in 2014." It was also published in a Jul 24, 2014 blog titled "Tips to Help You Invest in Your Kids."

 

***************************************

 

On my third visit to Rome this year, I decided that I had seen enough of Piazza del Popolo, Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza san Pietro, and the Spanish Steps. Of course, there are lots of other magnificent sights in Rome, but I wanted something that would also have a lot of people around; after all, you can only take one or two pictures of a church or a statue, but there are endless variations of "people shots."

 

So I ended up in Piazza Navona, which was decorated for Christmas and full of sights and sounds that were apparently intended to attract families with children, as well as tourists and local visitors. There were clowns and balloons, costumed mimes, a man and a woman at opposite ends of the piazza blowing utterly enormous soap-bubbles, as well as vendors hawking toys and balloons and pastries and panini sandwiches. There is an enormous statue in the middle of the piazza, with gargoyles and mythic creatures, plus a merry-go-round, and a few other amusements.

 

But it was the people that I focused my attention on. Lots of kids, eyes filled with wonder at the sights and sounds around them; plenty of tourists from all over the place; romantic couples strolling hand-in-hand as they sampled the snacks and drinks on sale. I was delighted to see that there were lots of local people in the piazza too; it seems to be a popular place for families to bring their children.

 

Anyway, I took some 500+ photos, winnowed the collection down to 50 "keepers," tweaked and edited the keepers as best I could, and uploaded them here to Flickr for your enjoyment...

I'm in the current issue of Amateur Photographer Magazine!

Are Bees Territorial? Sometimes. If you are a male. And if you are big. I had not really thought in any systematic way about territoriality in bees until I was looking up information about the bee in this picture (Centris adani. Costa Rico, Tim McMahon collector). My literature poke revealed that colleague Gordon Frankie had published on this long ago in the 70s about territoriality in male C. adani. Off hand I can think of territorial males existing in at least some Anthidium, Xylocopa, Centris, Anthophora, Bombus. Makes me wonder if small bees might sometimes also be territorial but we just aren't observant enough to discover that fact. But, I would bet not, probably just a big bee thing. If you are territorial it has to be useful or why bother? Probably has to do with mating opportunities. Which leads to another weak observation: In general, highly territorial males are both praised and denigrated in human society. What is the intersection between those two thoughts? It feels fuzzy, ... but intriguing. If there is not a scientific paper there, there must be at least a novel. Perhaps a high end Romance Novel. ~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~

 

All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.

  

Photography Information:

Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

 

We Are Made One with What We Touch and See

 

We are resolved into the supreme air,

We are made one with what we touch and see,

With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair,

With our young lives each spring impassioned tree

Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range

The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.

- Oscar Wilde

  

You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML

 

Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:

 

Best over all technical resource for photo stacking:

www.extreme-macro.co.uk/

 

Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World:

www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...

 

Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:

bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf

 

Basic USGSBIML set up:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY

 

USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4

 

Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus

www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections

 

PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:

  

Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:

plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo

or

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU

 

Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:

www.photomacrography.net/

 

Contact information:

Sam Droege

sdroege@usgs.gov

  

301 497 5840

Publish Janu,18/01/ 2017 BD LIVE HITS is a YouTube Chanel that presents all Hit Model, , Videos, News, , Live Performance, Juicy jokes etc ! ** Sonam's going to Hollywood!** Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, after traveling to Hollywood. Huma kuresirao international film debut. Britain, however, the film is not Hollywood. Sonam's father Anil Kapoor has already recovered Hollywood debut. Mission impossible: Ghost Protocol, and he acted in Slumdog Millionaire. Now Hollywood is Sonam. Ease of coffee with Sonam has acknowledged. Huma Qureshi international film debut. He is working with the director, Gurinder cadda his name. Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder's film. Huma Qureshi is going to release the film in the UK on March 3 this year. Subscribe our channel : goo.gl/FD2h1b Share the video youtu.be/5D2hCeYZPOI Facebook fun page : ift.tt/2gF3THr Twitter : twitter.com/anis01713734673 *****KEYWORD****** ** Sonam's going to Hollywood**

Strasbourg (/ˈstræzbɜrɡ/, French pronunciation: ​[stʁaz.buʁ, stʁas.buʁ]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace were historically Alemannic-speaking, hence the city's Germanic name.[5] In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 759,868 inhabitants in 2010, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 884,988 inhabitants in 2008.[6]

 

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights.[7]

 

Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is immersed in the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012.[8]

 

Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany.

 

Etymology and Names

The city's Gallicized name (Lower Alsatian: Strossburi, [ˈʃd̥rɔːsb̥uri]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". The modern Stras- is cognate to the German Straße and English street, all of which are derived from Latin strata ("paved road"), while -bourg is cognate to the German Burg and English borough, all of which are derived from Proto-Germanic *burgz ("hill fort, fortress").

 

Geography

 

Strasbourg seen from Spot Satellite

Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the River Rhine, which also forms the eastern border of the modern city, facing across the river to the German town Kehl. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the River Ill, which here flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from, the Rhine. The natural courses of the two rivers eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city.

 

The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain, at between 132 metres (433 ft) and 151 metres (495 ft) above sea level, with the upland areas of the Vosges Mountains some 20 km (12 mi) to the west and the Black Forest 25 km (16 mi) to the east. This section of the Rhine valley is a major axis of north-south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself, and major roads and railways paralleling it on both banks.

 

The city is some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Paris. The mouth of the Rhine lies approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) to the north, or 650 kilometres (400 mi) as the river flows, whilst the head of navigation in Basel is some 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the south, or 150 kilometres (93 mi) by river.

 

Climate

 

In spite of its position far inland, Strasbourg's climate is classified as Oceanic (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with warm, relatively sunny summers and cold, overcast winters. Precipitation is elevated from mid-spring to the end of summer, but remains largely constant throughout the year, totaling 631.4 mm (24.9 in) annually. On average, snow falls 30 days per year.

 

The highest temperature ever recorded was 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in August 2003, during the 2003 European heat wave. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −23.4 °C (−10.1 °F) in December 1938.

 

Strasbourg's location in the Rhine valley, sheltered from the dominant winds by the Vosges and Black Forest mountains, results in poor natural ventilation, making Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France.[10][11] Nonetheless, the progressive disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution.

 

Prehistory

The first traces of human occupation in the environs of Strasbourg go back many thousands of years.[16] Neolithic, bronze age and iron age artifacts have been uncovered by archeological excavations. It was permanently settled by proto-Celts around 1300 BC. Towards the end of the third century BC, it developed into a Celtic township with a market called "Argentorate". Drainage works converted the stilthouses to houses built on dry land.[17]

 

From Romans

The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the Germania Superior Roman province at Strasbourg's current location, and named it Argentoratum. (Hence the town is commonly called Argentina in medieval Latin.[18]) The name "Argentoratum" was first mentioned in 12 BC and the city celebrated its 2,000th birthday in 1988. "Argentorate" as the toponym of the Gaulish settlement preceded it before being Latinized, but it is not known by how long. The Roman camp was destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times between the first and the fifth centuries AD: in 70, 97, 235, 355, in the last quarter of the fourth century, and in the early years of the fifth century. It was under Trajan and after the fire of 97 that Argentoratum received its most extended and fortified shape. From the year 90 on, the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed in the Roman camp of Argentoratum. It then included a cavalry section and covered an area of approximately 20 hectares. Other Roman legions temporarily stationed in Argentoratum were the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XXI Rapax, the latter during the reign of Nero.

 

The centre of Argentoratum proper was situated on the Grande Île (Cardo: current Rue du Dôme, Decumanus: current Rue des Hallebardes). The outline of the Roman "castrum" is visible in the street pattern in the Grande Ile. Many Roman artifacts have also been found along the current Route des Romains, the road that led to Argentoratum, in the suburb of Kœnigshoffen. This was where the largest burial places were situated, as well as the densest concentration of civilian dwelling places and commerces next to the camp. Among the most outstanding finds in Kœnigshoffen were (found in 1911–12) the fragments of a grand Mithraeum that had been shattered by early Christians in the fourth century. From the fourth century, Strasbourg was the seat of the Bishopric of Strasbourg (made an Archbishopric in 1988). Archaeological excavations below the current Église Saint-Étienne in 1948 and 1956 unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late fourth or early fifth century, considered to be the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Strasbourg.

 

The Alemanni fought the Battle of Argentoratum against Rome in 357. They were defeated by Julian, later Emperor of Rome, and their King Chonodomarius was taken prisoner. On 2 January 366, the Alemanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers to invade the Roman Empire. Early in the fifth century, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine, conquered, and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland.

 

In the fifth century Strasbourg was occupied successively by Alemanni, Huns, and Franks. In the ninth century it was commonly known as Strazburg in the local language, as documented in 842 by the Oaths of Strasbourg. This trilingual text contains, alongside texts in Latin and Old High German (teudisca lingua), the oldest written variety of Gallo-Romance (lingua romana) clearly distinct from Latin, the ancestor of Old French. The town was also called Stratisburgum or Strateburgus in Latin, from which later came Strossburi in Alsatian and Straßburg in Standard German, and then Strasbourg in French. The Oaths of Strasbourg is considered as marking the birth of the two countries of France and Germany with the division of the Carolingian Empire.[19]

 

A major commercial centre, the town came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire in 923, through the homage paid by the Duke of Lorraine to German King Henry I. The early history of Strasbourg consists of a long conflict between its bishop and its citizens. The citizens emerged victorious after the Battle of Oberhausbergen in 1262, when King Philip of Swabia granted the city the status of an Imperial Free City.

 

Around 1200, Gottfried von Straßburg wrote the Middle High German courtly romance Tristan, which is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of great narrative masterpieces of the German Middle Ages.

 

A revolution in 1332 resulted in a broad-based city government with participation of the guilds, and Strasbourg declared itself a free republic. The deadly bubonic plague of 1348 was followed on 14 February 1349 by one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history: over a thousand Jews were publicly burnt to death, with the remainder of the Jewish population being expelled from the city.[20] Until the end of the 18th century, Jews were forbidden to remain in town after 10 pm. The time to leave the city was signalled by a municipal herald blowing the Grüselhorn (see below, Museums, Musée historique);.[21] A special tax, the Pflastergeld (pavement money), was furthermore to be paid for any horse that a Jew would ride or bring into the city while allowed to.[22]

 

Construction on Strasbourg Cathedral began in the twelfth century, and it was completed in 1439 (though, of the towers, only the north tower was built), becoming the World's Tallest Building, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza. A few years later, Johannes Gutenberg created the first European moveable type printing press in Strasbourg.

 

In July 1518, an incident known as the Dancing Plague of 1518 struck residents of Strasbourg. Around 400 people were afflicted with dancing mania and danced constantly for weeks, most of them eventually dying from heart attack, stroke or exhaustion.

 

In the 1520s during the Protestant Reformation, the city, under the political guidance of Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck and the spiritual guidance of Martin Bucer embraced the religious teachings of Martin Luther. Their adherents established a Gymnasium, headed by Johannes Sturm, made into a University in the following century. The city first followed the Tetrapolitan Confession, and then the Augsburg Confession. Protestant iconoclasm caused much destruction to churches and cloisters, notwithstanding that Luther himself opposed such a practice. Strasbourg was a centre of humanist scholarship and early book-printing in the Holy Roman Empire, and its intellectual and political influence contributed much to the establishment of Protestantism as an accepted denomination in the southwest of Germany. (John Calvin spent several years as a political refugee in the city). The Strasbourg Councillor Sturm and guildmaster Matthias represented the city at the Imperial Diet of Speyer (1529), where their protest led to the schism of the Catholic Church and the evolution of Protestantism. Together with four other free cities, Strasbourg presented the confessio tetrapolitana as its Protestant book of faith at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530, where the slightly different Augsburg Confession was also handed over to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

 

After the reform of the Imperial constitution in the early sixteenth century and the establishment of Imperial Circles, Strasbourg was part of the Upper Rhenish Circle, a corporation of Imperial estates in the southwest of Holy Roman Empire, mainly responsible for maintaining troops, supervising coining, and ensuring public security.

 

After the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, the first printing offices outside the inventor's hometown Mainz were established around 1460 in Strasbourg by pioneers Johannes Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein. Subsequently, the first modern newspaper was published in Strasbourg in 1605, when Johann Carolus received the permission by the City of Strasbourg to print and distribute a weekly journal written in German by reporters from several central European cities.

 

From Thirty Years' War to First World War

The Free City of Strasbourg remained neutral during the Thirty Years' War 1618-1648, and retained its status as a Free Imperial City. However, the city was later annexed by Louis XIV of France to extend the borders of his kingdom.

 

Louis' advisors believed that, as long as Strasbourg remained independent, it would endanger the King's newly annexed territories in Alsace, and, that to defend these large rural lands effectively, a garrison had to be placed in towns such as Strasbourg.[23] Indeed, the bridge over the Rhine at Strasbourg had been used repeatedly by Imperial (Holy Roman Empire) forces,[24] and three times during the Franco-Dutch War Strasbourg had served as a gateway for Imperial invasions into Alsace.[25] In September 1681 Louis' forces, though lacking a clear casus belli, surrounded the city with overwhelming force. After some negotiation, Louis marched into the city unopposed on 30 September 1681 and proclaimed its annexation.[26]

 

This annexation was one of the direct causes of the brief and bloody War of the Reunions whose outcome left the French in possession. The French annexation was recognized by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). The official policy of religious intolerance which drove most Protestants from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was not applied in Strasbourg and in Alsace, because both had a special status as a province à l'instar de l'étranger effectif (a kind of foreign province of the king of France). Strasbourg Cathedral, however, was taken from the Lutherans to be returned to the Catholics as the French authorities tried to promote Catholicism wherever they could (some other historic churches remained in Protestant hands). Its language also remained overwhelmingly German: the German Lutheran university persisted until the French Revolution. Famous students included Goethe and Herder.

  

The Duke of Lorraine and Imperial troops crossing the Rhine at Strasbourg during the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744

During a dinner in Strasbourg organized by Mayor Frédéric de Dietrich on 25 April 1792, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed "La Marseillaise". The same year François Christophe Kellermann, a child of Strasbourg was appointed the head of the Mosel Army. He led his company to victory at the battle of Valmy and saved the young French republic. He was later appointed Duke of Valmy by Napoléon in 1808.

 

During this period Jean-Baptiste Kléber, also born in Strasbourg, led the French army to win several decisive victories. A statue of Kléber now stands in the centre of the city, at Place Kléber, and he is still one of the most famous French officers. He was later appointed Marshal of France by Napoléon.

 

Strasbourg's status as a free city was revoked by the French Revolution. Enragés, most notoriously Eulogius Schneider, ruled the city with an increasingly iron hand. During this time, many churches and monasteries were either destroyed or severely damaged. The cathedral lost hundreds of its statues (later replaced by copies in the 19th century) and in April 1794, there was talk of tearing its spire down, on the grounds that it was against the principle of equality. The tower was saved, however, when in May of the same year citizens of Strasbourg crowned it with a giant tin Phrygian cap. This artifact was later kept in the historical collections of the city until it was destroyed by the Germans in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war.[27]

 

In 1805, 1806 and 1809, Napoléon Bonaparte and his first wife, Joséphine stayed in Strasbourg.[28] In 1810, his second wife Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma spent her first night on French soil in the palace. Another royal guest was King Charles X of France in 1828.[29] In 1836, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte unsuccessfully tried to lead his first Bonapartist coup in Strasbourg.

 

During the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Strasbourg, the city was heavily bombarded by the Prussian army. The bombardment of the city was meant to break the morale of the people of Strasbourg.[30] On 24 and 26 August 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the Gothic former Dominican church, with its unique collection of medieval manuscripts (most famously the Hortus deliciarum), rare Renaissance books, archeological finds and historical artifacts. The gothic cathedral was damaged as well as the medieval church of Temple Neuf, the theatre, the city hall, the court of justice and many houses. At the end of the siege 10,000 inhabitants were left without shelter; over 600 died, including 261 civilians, and 3200 were injured, including 1,100 civilians.[31]

 

In 1871, after the end of the war, the city was annexed to the newly established German Empire as part of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt. As part of Imperial Germany, Strasbourg was rebuilt and developed on a grand and representative scale, such as the Neue Stadt, or "new city" around the present Place de la République. Historian Rodolphe Reuss and Art historian Wilhelm von Bode were in charge of rebuilding the municipal archives, libraries and museums. The University, founded in 1567 and suppressed during the French Revolution as a stronghold of German sentiment,[citation needed] was reopened in 1872 under the name Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität.

  

Strasbourg in the 1890s.

A belt of massive fortifications was established around the city, most of which still stands today, renamed after French generals and generally classified as Monuments historiques; most notably Fort Roon (now Fort Desaix) and Fort Podbielski (now Fort Ducrot) in Mundolsheim, Fort von Moltke (now Fort Rapp) in Reichstett, Fort Bismarck (now Fort Kléber) in Wolfisheim, Fort Kronprinz (now Fort Foch) in Niederhausbergen, Fort Kronprinz von Sachsen (now Fort Joffre) in Holtzheim and Fort Großherzog von Baden (now Fort Frère) in Oberhausbergen.[32]

 

Those forts subsequently served the French army (Fort Podbielski/Ducrot for instance was integrated into the Maginot Line[33]), and were used as POW-camps in 1918 and 1945.

 

Two garrison churches were also erected for the members of the Imperial German army, the Lutheran Église Saint-Paul and the Roman Catholic Église Saint-Maurice.

 

1918 to the present

 

A lost, then restored, symbol of modernity in Strasbourg : a room in the Aubette building designed by Theo van Doesburg, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

 

Following the defeat of the German empire in World War I and the abdication of the German Emperor, some revolutionary insurgents declared Alsace-Lorraine as an independent Republic, without preliminary referendum or vote. On 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), communist insurgents proclaimed a "soviet government" in Strasbourg, following the example of Kurt Eisner in Munich as well as other German towns. French troops commanded by French general Henri Gouraud entered triumphantly in the city on 22 November. A major street of the city now bears the name of that date (Rue du 22 Novembre) which celebrates the entry of the French in the city.[34][35][36] Viewing the massive cheering crowd gathered under the balcony of Strasbourg's town hall, French President Raymond Poincaré stated that "the plebiscite is done".[37]

 

In 1919, following the Treaty of Versailles, the city was annexed by France in accordance with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" without a referendum. The date of the assignment was retroactively established on Armistice Day. It is doubtful whether a referendum in Strasbourg would have ended in France's favour since the political parties striving for an autonomous Alsace or a connection to France accounted only for a small proportion of votes in the last Reichstag as well as in the local elections.[38] The Alsatian autonomists who were pro French had won many votes in the more rural parts of the region and other towns since the annexation of the region by Germany in 1871. The movement started with the first election for the Reichstag; those elected were called "les députés protestataires", and until the fall of Bismarck in 1890, they were the only deputies elected by the Alsatians to the German parliament demanding the return of those territories to France.[39] At the last Reichstag election in Strasbourg and its periphery, the clear winners were the Social Democrats; the city was the administrative capital of the region, was inhabited by many Germans appointed by the central government in Berlin and its flourishing economy attracted many Germans. This could explain the difference between the rural vote and the one in Strasbourg. After the war, many Germans left Strasbourg and went back to Germany; some of them were denounced by the locals or expelled by the newly appointed authorities. The Saverne Affair was vivid in the memory among the Alsatians.

 

In 1920, Strasbourg became the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, previously located in Mannheim, one of the oldest European institutions. It moved into the former Imperial Palace.

 

When the Maginot Line was built, the Sous-secteur fortifié de Strasbourg (fortified sub-sector of Strasbourg) was laid out on the city's territory as a part of the Secteur fortifié du Bas-Rhin, one of the sections of the Line. Blockhouses and casemates were built along the Grand Canal d'Alsace and the Rhine in the Robertsau forest and the port.[40]

 

Between the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the Anglo-French declaration of War against the German Reich on 3 September 1939, the entire city (a total of 120,000 people) was evacuated, like other border towns as well. Until the arrival of the Wehrmacht troops mid-June 1940, the city was, for ten months, completely empty, with the exception of the garrisoned soldiers. The Jews of Strasbourg had been evacuated to Périgueux and Limoges, the University had been evacuated to Clermont-Ferrand.

 

After the ceasefire following the Fall of France in June 1940, Alsace was annexed to Germany and a rigorous policy of Germanisation was imposed upon it by the Gauleiter Robert Heinrich Wagner. When, in July 1940, the first evacuees were allowed to return, only residents of Alsatian origin were admitted. The last Jews were deported on 15 July 1940 and the main synagogue, a huge Romanesque revival building that had been a major architectural landmark with its 54-metre-high dome since its completion in 1897, was set ablaze, then razed.[41]

 

In September 1940 the first Alsatian resistance movement led by Marcel Weinum called La main noire (The black hand) was created. It was composed by a group of 25 young men aged from 14 to 18 years old who led several attacks against the German occupation. The actions culminated with the attack of the Gauleiter Robert Wagner, the highest commander of Alsace directly under the order of Hitler. In March 1942, Marcel Weinum was prosecuted by the Gestapo and sentenced to be beheaded at the age of 18 in April 1942 in Stuttgart, Germany. His last words will be: "If I have to die, I shall die but with a pure heart". From 1943 the city was bombarded by Allied aircraft. While the First World War had not notably damaged the city, Anglo-American bombing caused extensive destruction in raids of which at least one was allegedly carried out by mistake.[42] In August 1944, several buildings in the Old Town were damaged by bombs, particularly the Palais Rohan, the Old Customs House (Ancienne Douane) and the Cathedral.[43] On 23 November 1944, the city was officially liberated by the 2nd French Armoured Division under General Leclerc. He achieved the oath that he made with his soldiers, after the decisive Capture of Kufra. With the Oath of Kuffra, they swore to keep up the fight until the French flag flew over the Cathedral of Strasbourg.

 

Many people from Strasbourg were incorporated in the German Army against their will, and were sent to the eastern front, those young men and women were called Malgré-nous. Many tried to escape from the incorporation, join the French Resistance, or desert the Wehrmacht but many couldn't because they were running the risk of having their families sent to work or concentration camps by the Germans. Many of these men, especially those who did not answer the call immediately, were pressured to "volunteer" for service with the SS, often by direct threats on their families. This threat obliged the majority of them to remain in the German army. After the war, the few that survived were often accused of being traitors or collaborationists, because this tough situation was not known in the rest of France, and they had to face the incomprehension of many. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers, where they joined the Free French Forces. Nowadays history recognizes the suffering of those people, and museums, public discussions and memorials have been built to commemorate this terrible period of history of this part of Eastern France (Alsace and Moselle). Liberation of Strasbourg took place on 23 November 1944.

 

In 1947, a fire broke out in the Musée des Beaux-Arts and devastated a significant part of the collections. This fire was an indirect consequence of the bombing raids of 1944: because of the destruction inflicted on the Palais Rohan, humidity had infiltrated the building, and moisture had to be fought. This was done with welding torches, and a bad handling of these caused the fire.[44]

 

In the 1950s and 1960s the city was enlarged by new residential areas meant to solve both the problem of housing shortage due to war damage and that of the strong growth of population due to the baby boom and immigration from North Africa: Cité Rotterdam in the North-East, Quartier de l'Esplanade in the South-East, Hautepierre in the North-West. Between 1995 and 2010, a new district has been built in the same vein, the Quartier des Poteries, south of Hautepierre.

 

In 1958, a violent hailstorm destroyed most of the historical greenhouses of the Botanical Garden and many of the stained glass windows of St. Paul's Church.

 

In 1949, the city was chosen to be the seat of the Council of Europe with its European Court of Human Rights and European Pharmacopoeia. Since 1952, the European Parliament has met in Strasbourg, which was formally designated its official 'seat' at the Edinburgh meeting of the European Council of EU heads of state and government in December 1992. (This position was reconfirmed and given treaty status in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam). However, only the (four-day) plenary sessions of the Parliament are held in Strasbourg each month, with all other business being conducted in Brussels and Luxembourg. Those sessions take place in the Immeuble Louise Weiss, inaugurated in 1999, which houses the largest parliamentary assembly room in Europe and of any democratic institution in the world. Before that, the EP sessions had to take place in the main Council of Europe building, the Palace of Europe, whose unusual inner architecture had become a familiar sight to European TV audiences.[45] In 1992, Strasbourg became the seat of the Franco-German TV channel and movie-production society Arte.

 

In 2000, a terrorist plot to blow up the cathedral was prevented thanks to the cooperation between French and German police that led to the arrest in late 2000 of a Frankfurt-based group of terrorists.

 

On 6 July 2001, during an open-air concert in the Parc de Pourtalès, a single falling Platanus tree killed thirteen people and injured 97. On 27 March 2007, the city was found guilty of neglect over the accident and fined €150,000.[46]

 

In 2006, after a long and careful restoration, the inner decoration of the Aubette, made in the 1920s by Hans Arp, Theo van Doesburg, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp and destroyed in the 1930s, was made accessible to the public again. The work of the three artists had been called "the Sistine Chapel of abstract art".

 

Architecture

 

Strasbourg, Cathedral of Our Lady

The city is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite France district or Gerberviertel ("tanners' district") alongside the Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral, where the renowned Maison Kammerzell stands out.

 

Notable medieval streets include Rue Mercière, Rue des Dentelles, Rue du Bain aux Plantes, Rue des Juifs, Rue des Frères, Rue des Tonneliers, Rue du Maroquin, Rue des Charpentiers, Rue des Serruriers, Grand' Rue, Quai des Bateliers, Quai Saint-Nicolas and Quai Saint-Thomas. Notable medieval squares include Place de la Cathédrale, Place du Marché Gayot, Place Saint-Étienne, Place du Marché aux Cochons de Lait and Place Benjamin Zix.

 

Maison des tanneurs.

 

In addition to the cathedral, Strasbourg houses several other medieval churches that have survived the many wars and destructions that have plagued the city: the Romanesque Église Saint-Étienne, partly destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombing raids, the part Romanesque, part Gothic, very large Église Saint-Thomas with its Silbermann organ on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played,[49] the Gothic Église protestante Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune with its crypt dating back to the seventh century and its cloister partly from the eleventh century, the Gothic Église Saint-Guillaume with its fine early-Renaissance stained glass and furniture, the Gothic Église Saint-Jean, the part Gothic, part Art Nouveau Église Sainte-Madeleine, etc. The Neo-Gothic church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Catholique (there is also an adjacent church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Protestant) serves as a shrine for several 15th-century wood worked and painted altars coming from other, now destroyed churches and installed there for public display. Among the numerous secular medieval buildings, the monumental Ancienne Douane (old custom-house) stands out.

 

The German Renaissance has bequeathed the city some noteworthy buildings (especially the current Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie, former town hall, on Place Gutenberg), as did the French Baroque and Classicism with several hôtels particuliers (i.e. palaces), among which the Palais Rohan (1742, now housing three museums) is the most spectacular. Other buildings of its kind are the "Hôtel de Hanau" (1736, now the city hall), the Hôtel de Klinglin (1736, now residence of the préfet), the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (1755, now residence of the military governor), the Hôtel d'Andlau-Klinglin (1725, now seat of the administration of the Port autonome de Strasbourg) etc. The largest baroque building of Strasbourg though is the 150 m (490 ft) long 1720s main building of the Hôpital civil. As for French Neo-classicism, it is the Opera House on Place Broglie that most prestigiously represents this style.

 

Strasbourg also offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district, the Neustadt, being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damage during World War II. Streets, boulevards and avenues are homogeneous, surprisingly high (up to seven stories) and broad examples of German urban lay-out and of this architectural style that summons and mixes up five centuries of European architecture as well as Neo-Egyptian, Neo-Greek and Neo-Babylonian styles. The former imperial palace Palais du Rhin, the most political and thus heavily criticized of all German Strasbourg buildings epitomizes the grand scale and stylistic sturdiness of this period. But the two most handsome and ornate buildings of these times are the École internationale des Pontonniers (the former Höhere Mädchenschule, girls college) with its towers, turrets and multiple round and square angles[50] and the École des Arts décoratifs with its lavishly ornate façade of painted bricks, woodwork and majolica.[51]

 

Notable streets of the German district include: Avenue de la Forêt Noire, Avenue des Vosges, Avenue d'Alsace, Avenue de la Marseillaise, Avenue de la Liberté, Boulevard de la Victoire, Rue Sellénick, Rue du Général de Castelnau, Rue du Maréchal Foch, and Rue du Maréchal Joffre. Notable squares of the German district include: Place de la République, Place de l'Université, Place Brant, and Place Arnold

 

As for modern and contemporary architecture, Strasbourg possesses some fine Art Nouveau buildings (such as the huge Palais des Fêtes and houses and villas like Villa Schutzenberger and Hôtel Brion), good examples of post-World War II functional architecture (the Cité Rotterdam, for which Le Corbusier did not succeed in the architectural contest) and, in the very extended Quartier Européen, some spectacular administrative buildings of sometimes utterly large size, among which the European Court of Human Rights building by Richard Rogers is arguably the finest. Other noticeable contemporary buildings are the new Music school Cité de la Musique et de la Danse, the Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain and the Hôtel du Département facing it, as well as, in the outskirts, the tramway-station Hoenheim-Nord designed by Zaha Hadid.

  

Place Kléber

The city has many bridges, including the medieval and four-towered Ponts Couverts that, despite their name, are no longer covered. Next to the Ponts Couverts is the Barrage Vauban, a part of Vauban's 17th-century fortifications, that does include a covered bridge. Other bridges are the ornate 19th-century Pont de la Fonderie (1893, stone) and Pont d'Auvergne (1892, iron), as well as architect Marc Mimram's futuristic Passerelle over the Rhine, opened in 2004.

 

The largest square at the centre of the city of Strasbourg is the Place Kléber. Located in the heart of the city's commercial area, it was named after general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, born in Strasbourg in 1753 and assassinated in 1800 in Cairo. In the square is a statue of Kléber, under which is a vault containing his remains. On the north side of the square is the Aubette (Orderly Room), built by Jacques François Blondel, architect of the king, in 1765–1772.

 

Parks

 

The Pavillon Joséphine (rear side) in the Parc de l'Orangerie

 

The Château de Pourtalès (front side) in the park of the same name

 

Strasbourg features a number of prominent parks, of which several are of cultural and historical interest: the Parc de l'Orangerie, laid out as a French garden by André le Nôtre and remodeled as an English garden on behalf of Joséphine de Beauharnais, now displaying noteworthy French gardens, a neo-classical castle and a small zoo; the Parc de la Citadelle, built around impressive remains of the 17th-century fortress erected close to the Rhine by Vauban;[52] the Parc de Pourtalès, laid out in English style around a baroque castle (heavily restored in the 19th century) that now houses a small three-star hotel,[53] and featuring an open-air museum of international contemporary sculpture.[54] The Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg (botanical garden) was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg, built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times. The Parc des Contades, although the oldest park of the city, was completely remodeled after World War II. The futuristic Parc des Poteries is an example of European park-conception in the late 1990s. The Jardin des deux Rives, spread over Strasbourg and Kehl on both sides of the Rhine opened in 2004 and is the most extended (60-hectare) park of the agglomeration. The most recent park is Parc du Heyritz (8,7 ha), opened in 2014 along a canal facing the hôpital civil.

Published in Print: Modern Luxury - DC Magazine, December 2012

digital.modernluxury.com/publication/?i=135819&p=34

The Postcard

 

A postally unused postcard published by E. A. Sweetman & Sons Ltd. of Tunbridge Wells. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card has a divided back.

 

The area in the photograph is now a virtual racetrack, with very large numbers of vehicles jostling for position as they manoeuvre their way round the one-way system.

 

Purley

 

Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon. It was part of the county of Surrey until 1965. It is located south of the town of Croydon, and 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south of Charing Cross. It had a population of about 14,000 in 2011.

 

Aviation

 

Kenley Aerodrome, to the east of the town, was one of the key fighter stations - together with Croydon Airport and Biggin Hill - during the World War II support of Dunkirk, Battle of Britain and defence of London.

 

Suburban Growth

 

Purley grew rapidly in the 1920's and 1930's, providing spacious homes in a green environment. Northeast Purley stretches into the chalk hill spurs of the North Downs.

 

Promenade de Verdun

 

One road, Promenade de Verdun, created by William Webb, has a distinction all of its own. It is 600 yards (550 m) long, and has on one side Lombardy poplars planted in local soil mixed with French earth specially shipped over to the UK.

 

A plaque at one end of the road explains that the French Ministry of the Interior donated the soil from Armentières, as a memorial to the alliance of the Great War and the soldiers who died.

 

At the other end stands an obelisk carved from a single piece of stone with the inscription:

 

"Aux soldats de France morts

glorieusement pendant la Grande

Guerre".

 

Purley in WWII

 

The 32nd. Surrey Battalion of the Home Guard was known as the Factory Battalion, and had the specific task of guarding the Purley Way factories: its units were mainly based on staff from the individual firms.

 

The factories adjoining Croydon Airport took the worst of the air raid of the 15th. August 1940: the British NSF factory was almost entirely destroyed, and the Bourjois factory gutted, with a total of over sixty civilian deaths.

 

A comprehensive history of Purley and its growth around Caterham Junction (now Purley Station) with the coming of the railways some 150 years ago is found in the Bourne Society's 'Purley Village History' and in its Local History Records publications.

 

The Webb Estate

 

The Webb Estate made headlines in a 2002 survey, which found that it had over the years attracted the highest-earning residents in the UK. In the same year Purley topped Britain's rich list, becoming the most affluent suburb.

 

Purley consistently features among the most affluent suburbs in Britain owing to its exclusive gated estates, large houses and greenery, yet it is less than 30 minutes from central London by train, thus attracting wealthy city workers.

 

Fictional References to Purley

 

-- On television the town became known in the sitcom, Terry and June where Terry and June Medford (Terry Scott and June Whitfield), had moved after the characters' previous series, Happy Ever After.

 

The sitcom was set on the cusp of Purley and Wallington (on Church Road in a house within sight of St Mark's Church) and the opening credits featured them searching for each other around the (now unrecognisable) Whitgift Centre – a shopping precinct in Croydon.

 

-- One of the houses used in Footballer's Wives is 7 Rose Walk, Purley, owned by former Crystal Palace FC Chairman Ron Noades.

 

-- Purley is famous for a reference in both the "Marriage Guidance Counsellor", "Nudge Nudge", and "Kilimanjaro Expedition" (mentioned in the film And Now for Something Completely Different) sketches by the Monty Python team.

 

-- The CBBC children's sitcom Little Howard's Big Question is based in Purley, and also features continual references to Croydon.

 

-- Mr Angry, a character on Steve Wright's Radio 1 afternoon show in the 1980's, is from Purley.

 

Notable Residents of Purley

 

Notable residents include:

 

-- Michael Arthur, Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University, and Provost of University College London from September 2013, was born in Purley.

-- Jay Aston, singer with Bucks Fizz, was born in Purley.

-- Ronald Binge and his wife Vera lived at 18, Smitham Bottom Lane in the 1950's. He composed the Elizabethan Serenade there.

-- Derren Brown, magician and mentalist, was born and grew up in Purley.

-- Peter Cushing OBE, actor, grew up and went to school in Purley.

-- Brian Fahey, composer of "At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal" (the signature tune to BBC Radio's Pick of the Pops).

-- Andy Frampton, former professional footballer, grew up in Purley.

-- Shelagh Fraser, actress, was born in Purley.

-- Laura Hamilton, TV presenter and Dancing on Ice Contestant, lives in Purley.

-- Nigel Harman, actor, was born and grew up in Purley.

-- Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary, lives in Purley.

-- Sir David P. Lane, oncologist best known for identifying P53, went to school and grew up in Purley.

-- Martin Lee, singer with Brotherhood of Man, was born in Purley.

-- Archibald Low, pioneer of radio guidance systems, was born in Purley.

-- Ray Mears, TV survivalist, went to school in Purley.

-- Ron Noades, former chairman of Wimbledon FC, Crystal Palace FC and Brentford FC and owner of the Altonwood Golf Group, lived in Rose Walk, Purley, from 1993 until 2013.

-- Innes Hope Pearse, doctor and co-founder of the Peckham Experiment, grew up in Purley.

-- Francis Rossi, lead singer of Status Quo, lives in the Webb Estate in Purley.

-- John Horne Tooke, an English politician and philologist, lived in Purley at the end of the 18th. century where he began writing Epea Pteroenta, Or, The Diversions of Purley.

-- Wilfried Zaha, footballer, Crystal Palace FC, lives in the Webb Estate.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst Beta

@3000x4000 (Windowed Borderless Gaming)

Hattiwatti Tools: Freecam, Timestop, Hide HUD, FOV

ReShade

 

Recalling an early shot I took in Remember Me (and never published except as outtakes), here I did a roll and paused during the recovery as her hair swished forward, then went in for a better angle. Too bad the hair looks a bit strange by the ear.

 

Less-color ver

Hi all! I haven't uploaded any fashion photographs for awhile! Here's my latest editorial, Nightside, which was published in Like A Lion Magazine.

 

You can view the full editorial over on my website:

 

www.aaronsehmarphotography.co.uk/nightside.html

 

Strobist info:

 

Left image: Shot with a canon 320ex speedlite,

left of the model.

 

Right image: shot with two canon 320ex speedlites, one to the left of the model and one to the right, facing towards each other.

  

© All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal. Please do not reproduce, publish or use any of our photos without our express consent.

This is an artificially created single-image HDR photo, created simply by invoking the PhotoMatix program on the original RAW image. The results are a little less impressive than if I had gone through the more tedious process of creating three separate RAW copies of the original image, and bumping the exposure of one of the copies up by one f-stop, and one of the other copies down by one f-stop. But it's close enough, and I was feeling lazy...

 

Note: this photo was published in an undated (Jan 3, 2011) Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "10024." It was also published in an Apr 5, 2011 blog titled "Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 Micro Four Thirds Digital Cameras."

 

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A year from now, nobody will remember (or care about) the details -- but if you happened to live anywhere on the East Coast of the U.S. when these pictures were taken, then you surely know that we've just been hit by the first major snowstorm of the 2010-2011 winter season. Of course, upstate New York and the Midwest have already been hit by multiple storms, and they've gotten far larger accumulations of snow than we'll probably end up with ... but since a few of the nation's major TV headquarters and newspapers are based in New York, we tend to get a disproportionate amount of attention when we're hit with a major storm.

 

When I took the first few pictures in this set, it was too early to tell whether it really would be a major storm. But it snowed all night, and throughout the evening, we heard that some 1,400 flights in and out of New York's three airports had been canceled, and that the Amtrak/Acela train service from New York to Boston had been suspended. And when we got up the next morning and found that the airports were still closed, and that 13 inches of white stuff had fallen in Central Park, we decided that it really was a significant storm.

 

At lunch-time on the day after the storm, I ventured out towards Central Park, with my Olympus E-P2 "micro four-thirds" camera and my Canon G-12 compact digital camera; with the blustery wind blowing snow flurries in all directions, I wasn't willing to risk getting my Nikon D700 wet. I used a combination of slow-running subways and buses to get to the 86th Street entrance to Central Park, and then walked over to the Great Lawn, where I was fairly confident I would see people doing all kinds of interesting things -- including a very energetic game of football! -- on the large, snow-filled lawn.

 

And indeed, I saw not only the football players, but also people with skis and snow-shoes and sleds, as well as people jogging(!), walking their dogs, building snowmen, and just enjoying themselves as they walked through the winter wonderland.

 

The most amazing part of the day was the sight of quasi-snow-flurries kicked up by the gusting wind. If I didn't know any better, I might well have thought I was at the North Pole; but the skyline view of skyscrapers and apartment towers all around was a constant reminder that I was still in New York.

 

Other parts of Central Park were probably equally photogenic, and equally filled with people taking advantage of the fresh snow ... but after a couple of hours of wandering around and taking a few hundred photos, my feet were too numb to continue. If I have enough energy, maybe I'll venture back out to the park during the next couple days; if not, you'll just have to make do with these photos that I've uploaded.

Published by Editor Sol, Mexico 1971

This woman was crossing from the south side of 96th Street to the north side, on the west side of Broadway...

 

Note: this photo was published as an illustration in an undated (Jan 2010) Squidoo blog titled Fishing Boots." It was also published as an illustration in an undated (Jan 2010) Squidoo blogtitled "Funky Welly Boots." It was also published in a Feb 5, 2010 blog titled "Rain Boots to Brighten Your Cloudy Day." And it was published in a Jun 7, 2010 blog titled "Retirement income planning is tough when the economy is bad," as well as a Jun 9, 2010 Income Record blog, with the same title as the caption that I used on this Flickr page. It was also published in a Jul 13, 2010 blog titled "Retirement Planning Hints and Tips." And it was published in an Aug 24, 2010 blog titled "Late Retirement – Irish Pension Plans."

 

Moving into 2012, the photo was published in a Feb 1, 2012 blog titled "schraegsicht." It was also published in an Apr 3, 2012 blog title " Is there still hope to have a decent life without fighting?" And it was published in a Nov 24, 2012 blog titled "I want to make a list for someone of things to be thankful for what ya got?"

  

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Months from now, if people stumble onto this set of Flickr photos, they won't know or care when the photos were actually taken. After all, rain is a fairly universal phenomenon, and it can happen in any of the four seasons of the year.

 

Still, it's an odd experience to be writing these notes a week after the photographs were taken -- at an altitude of 35,000 feet, on a flight to Miami that lifted off from JFK airport just as the first snow flurries hit the runway at the beginning of what promises to be the first major snowfall of the 2009 season. Twelve inches of snow are expected by the time the storm stops, which makes this collection of water-soaked individuals seem like they got stuck in the wrong place and the wrong time.

 

But a week ago, the temperature was about ten degrees warmer -- and what could easily have been a foot or two of snow was instead just a couple of inches of cold rain. Rain, of course, brings out the umbrellas; and on a couple of earlier occasions this year (which you can see here and here on Flickr), I began to see that -- notwithstanding the typical stories about New York fashions -- people were not restricting themselves to black raincoats and black umbrellas. My winter coat (courtesy of North Face) is black, and just about every umbrella I've ever owned has been black; my suitcases are black, my backpacks and briefcases have always been black, and even my camera bag is black. Since it's promising to be a cold winter, I just bought a new pair of gloves and a new woolen cap ... in black.

 

But that's apparently not true for many other New Yorkers. While you'll see a few black outfits in the photos collected here, the range of vivid colors continues to surprise me. Somehow, it's something you would expect to see at the beginning of the spring season -- signifying the rejection of the dark gloom of clouds and rain, and celebrating the imminent arrival of flowers and blossoms, of emerald-colored trees and thick green grass and the chirping of birds. But this collection of photos was taken in mid-December, only a week before the official beginning of winter. You'd think that people would be carrying black umbrellas and somber raincoats that marked the season of death and darkness, but I guess that's just not the way things are here in New York City.

 

On the previous occasions when I've photographed umbrellas in the rain, I've deliberately used a "pocket camera," albeit a fairly sophisticated one such as the Canon G-10. I wanted something that would be compact enough that I could stick into my jacket pocket if the rain got heavy, and I didn't want to risk damaging the electronic components a really expensive, sophisticated camera by getting it wet. The results were usually fairly good, but I always wondered if I could do a better job with one of my high-end DSLR cameras...

 

... so that's what I used for this collection of photos: my Nikon D700 camera, with a big, heavy 70-300mm zoom lens. I attached a lens hood to the lens, to minimize the chances of raindrops falling directly onto the lens itself; and I stood beneath the awning and overhang of various storefronts and buildings along Broadway as the rain poured down steadily all around me. Next time, I might be even more adventurous, since I've got a professional waterproof bag-thingy that should keep the camera dry even if I'm standing out in the middle of a torrential downpour. But for now, this was a good start.

 

Because of the rain, most of the people I photographed paid no attention to me at all; they were too busy concentrating on where they were walking, where the puddles were deepest, and whose umbrellas were about to poke them in the face. On the rare occasions when they did see a crazy guy standing under an awning, pointing a camera in their general direction, they frowned or gave me a quizzical look, and just kept going...

 

So that's the way it was, on this rainy Sunday afternoon. At this point, I'm going to assume that winter has officially arrived, and that the precipitation during the next few months will take the form of snow, not rain. I don't know how well it will turn out, but one of my future projects will be a series of photos during a blizzard. Stay tuned ... and in the meantime, stay dry.

Pittsburgh from the observation deck of the Duquesne Incline

Published in GMARO Magazine

Pelican - Shortlisted Toronto Star Photography Awards 2014

published in Dawn Images, 10th-may-09

  

My image on the book cover!

The Château de Chenonceau is a French château spanning the river Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire. It is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire Valley.

 

The estate of Chenonceau is first mentioned in writing in the 11th century. The current château was built in 1514–1522 on the foundations of an old mill and was later extended to span the river. The bridge over the river was built (1556-1559) to designs by the French Renaissance architect Philibert de l'Orme, and the gallery on the bridge, built from 1570 to 1576 to designs by Jean Bullant.

 

An architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance, Château de Chenonceau and its gardens are open to the public. Other than the Royal Palace of Versailles, it is the most visited château in France.

 

The château has been designated as a Monument historique since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. Today, Chenonceau is a major tourist attraction and in 2007 received around 800,000 visitors.

 

In the 13th century, the fief of Chenonceau belonged to the Marques family. The original château was torched in 1412 to punish the owner, Jean Marques, for an act of sedition. He rebuilt a château and fortified mill on the site in the 1430s. Jean Marques' indebted heir Pierre Marques found it necessary to sell.

 

Thomas Bohier, Chamberlain to King Charles VIII of France, purchased the castle from Pierre Marques in 1513 and demolished most of it (resulting in 2013 being considered the 500th anniversary of the castle: MDXIII–MMXIII), though its 15th-century keep was left standing. Bohier built an entirely new residence between 1515 and 1521. The work was overseen by his wife Katherine Briçonnet, who delighted in hosting French nobility, including King Francis I on two occasions.

 

In 1535 the château was seized from Bohier's son [fr] by King Francis I of France for unpaid debts to the Crown. After Francis' death in 1547, Henry II offered the château as a gift to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who became fervently attached to the château along the river.[8] In 1555 she commissioned Philibert de l'Orme to build the arched bridge joining the château to its opposite bank. Diane then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in four triangles.

 

Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555 when years of delicate legal manoeuvres finally yielded possession to her.

 

After King Henry II died in 1559, his strong-willed widow and regent Catherine de' Medici forced Diane to exchange it for the Château Chaumont. Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favourite residence, adding a new series of gardens.

 

As Regent of France, Catherine spent a fortune on the château and on spectacular nighttime parties. In 1560, the first-ever fireworks display seen in France took place during the celebrations marking the ascension to the throne of Catherine's son Francis II. The grand gallery, which extended along the existing bridge to cross the entire river, was dedicated in 1577. Catherine also added rooms between the chapel and the library on the east side of the corps de logis, as well as a service wing on the west side of the entry courtyard.

 

Catherine considered an even greater expansion of the château, shown in an engraving published by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau in the second (1579) volume of his book Les plus excellents bastiments de France. If this project had been executed, the current château would have been only a small portion of an enormous manor laid out "like pincers around the existing buildings."

 

On Catherine's death, in January 1589, the château went to her daughter-in-law, Louise of Lorraine, wife of King Henry III. Louise was at Chenonceau when she learned of her husband's assassination, in August 1589, and she fell into a state of depression. Louise spent the next 11 years, until her death in January 1601, wandering aimlessly along the château's corridors dressed in mourning clothes, amidst sombre black tapestries stitched with skulls and crossbones.

 

Henri IV obtained Chenonceau for his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées by paying the debts of Catherine de' Medici, which had been inherited by Louise and were threatening to ruin her. In return, Louise left the château to her niece Françoise de Lorraine, at that time six years old and betrothed to the four-year-old César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme, the natural son of Gabrielle d'Estrées and Henri IV. The château belonged to the Duc de Vendôme and his descendants for more than a hundred years. The Bourbons had little interest in the château, except for hunting. In 1650, Louis XIV was the last king of the ancien régime to visit.

 

The Château de Chenonceau was bought by the Duke of Bourbon in 1720. Little by little, he sold off all of the castle's contents. Many of the fine statues ended up at Versailles.

 

In 1733 the estate was sold for 130,000 livres to a wealthy squire named Claude Dupin. His wife, Louise Dupin, was the natural daughter of the financier Samuel Bernard and the actress Manon Dancourt, whose mother was also an actress who had joined the Comédie Française in 1684. Louise Dupin was "an intelligent, beautiful, and highly cultivated woman who had the theatre in her blood." Claude Dupin, a widower, had a son, Louis Claude, from his first wife Marie-Aurore de Saxe, who was the grandmother of George Sand (born Aurore Dupin).

 

Louise Dupin's literary salon at Chenonceau attracted such leaders of the Enlightenment as the writers Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Fontenelle, the naturalist Buffon, the playwright Marivaux, the philosopher Condillac, as well as the Marquise de Tencin and the Marquise du Deffand. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was Dupin's secretary and tutored her son. Rousseau, who worked on Émile at Chenonceau, wrote in his Confessions: "We played music there and staged comedies. I wrote a play in verse entitled Sylvie's Path, after the name of a path in the park along the Cher."

 

The widowed Louise Dupin saved the château from destruction during the French Revolution, preserving it from being destroyed by the Revolutionary Guard because "it was essential to travel and commerce, being the only bridge across the river for many miles."

 

In 1864 Marguerite Pelouze [fr ], a rich heiress, acquired the château. Around 1875 she commissioned the architect Félix Roguet to restore it. He almost completely renewed the interior and removed several of Catherine de' Medici's additions, including the rooms between the library and the chapel and her alterations to the north facade, among which were figures of Hercules, Pallas, Apollo, and Cybele that were moved to the park. With the money Marguerite spent on these projects and elaborate parties, her finances were depleted, and the château was seized and sold.

 

José-Emilio Terry, a Cuban millionaire, acquired Chenonceau from Madame Pelouze in 1891. Terry sold it in 1896 to a family member, Francisco Terry. In 1913, the château was acquired by Henri Menier, a member of the Menier family, famous for their chocolates, who still own it to this day.

 

During World War I Gaston Menier set up the gallery to be used as a hospital ward. During the Second World War, the château was bombed by the Germans in June 1940.[20] It was also a means of escaping from the Nazi-occupied zone on one side of the river Cher to the "free" zone on the opposite bank. Occupied by the Germans, the château was bombed by the Allies on 7 June 1944, when the chapel was hit and its windows destroyed.

 

In 1951, the Menier family entrusted the château's restoration to Bernard Voisin, who brought the dilapidated structure and the gardens (ravaged in the Cher flood in 1940) back to a reflection of its former glory.

 

Chenonceaux is a commune in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, and the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France.

 

It is situated in the valley of the river Cher, a tributary of the Loire, about 26 km (16 mi) east of Tours and on the right bank of the Cher.

 

The population of permanent residents hovers about 350, but there is a large influx of tourists during the summer months because the village adjoins the former royal Château de Chenonceau, one of the most popular tourist destinations in France. The château is distinctive in being built across the river. The village is also situated in Touraine-Chenonceaux wine-growing area, and bordered on its northern edge by the Forest of Amboise.

 

Name

The difference in spelling between the Château's name (Chenonceau) and the village (Chenonceaux) is attributed to Louise Dupin de Francueil, owner of the château during the French Revolution, who is said to have dropped the "x" at the end of its name to differentiate what was a symbol of royalty from the Republic. As a result of her good relations with the village, the Château was spared the iconoclastic damage suffered by many other monuments during the Revolution. Although no official sources have been found to support this claim, the Château has ever since been referred to and spelled as Chenonceau.

 

Mme Dupin hosted the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Chenonceau as tutor to her children, and among her descendants was the writer George Sand, born Aurore Dupin.

 

Philibert de l'Orme (pronounced [filibɛːʁ də lɔʁm]) (3-9 June 1514 – 8 January 1570) was a French architect and writer, and one of the great masters of French Renaissance architecture. His surname is also written De l'Orme, de L'Orme, or Delorme.

 

Biography

Early career

Philbert de l'Orme was born between 3 and 9 June 1514 in Lyon. His father was Jehan de L'Orme, a master mason and entrepreneur, who, in the 1530s, employed three hundred workers and built prestigious buildings for the elite of the city.[3] When Philibert was nineteen he departed Lyon for Italy, where he remained for three years, working on building projects for Pope Paul III. In Rome he was introduced to Cardinal Jean du Bellay, the Ambassador of King François I to the Vatican, who became his protector and client. Du Bellay was also the patron of his friend Francois Rabelais. In about 1540 de l'Orme moved to Paris, and was soon occupied with royal projects.

 

Royal architect of Henry II (1548-1559)

On April 3, 1548 he was a named architect of the King by Henry II. For a period of eleven years, he supervised all of the King's architectural projects, with the exception of changes to the Louvre, which were planned by another royal architect, Pierre Lescot. His major projects included the Château de St Maur-des-Fossés, the Château d'Anet, the Château de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley; the royal Château de Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne; the Château de Vincennes, and major modifications to the Palace of Fontainebleau.

 

He also made a reputation as a writer and theorist, and as an innovator in building techniques. He invented a new system for making the essential wooden frameworks for constructing stone buildings, called charpente à petits bois, which was quicker and less expensive than previous methods and used much less wood. He demonstrated it before the King in 1555, and put it to work in construction at the new royal Château de Montceaux and at the royal hunting lodge La Muette [fr] in the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

 

Out of favor - architectural theorist (1559-1563)

The death of Henry II of France on July 10, 1559 suddenly left him without a patron and at the mercy of rival architects who resented his success and his style. Two days later, on 10 July, he was dismissed from his official posts, and replaced by an Italian artist and architect, Francesco Primaticcio, whose work was much in fashion. He had joined a religious order, and decided to turn his attention to meditation, scholarship and writing. He made another trip to Rome to inspect the new works of Michelangelo. Beginning in 1565 wrote the first volume of a work on architectural theory, which was scientific and philosophical. It was published in 1567, and was followed by new editions after his death in 1576, 1626 and 1648.

 

Royal architect again (1563-1570)

Under Charles IX and Catherine de Medici, he returned to royal favor. He was employed on the enlargement of the Chateau of Saint Maur (1563) and, along with Jean Bullant, on additions to the Tuileries Palace (1564). He died in Paris in 1570, while this project was underway.

 

Reputation

In the 17th century, during the period of Louis XIV style that followed his death, his reputation suffered. The grand stairway that he built at the Tuileries Palace was demolished in 1664, as was his Château de Saint-Léger in 1668, to make way for classical structures. In 1683, he was denounced by François Blondel of the Royal Academy for his "villainous Gothic ornaments" and his "petty manner". Nonetheless, his two major theoretical works on construction and design continued to be important textbooks, and were regularly republished and read.

 

His reputation rose again in the 18th century, through the writings of Dezallier d'Argenville, who wrote in 1787 that he had "abandoned the Gothic covering in order to redress French architecture in the style Ancient Greece." D'Argenville wrote the first biography and catalog of works. Though few of his building survived to be studied carefully, later important academic works on de l'Orme were written in the 19th and 20th centuries by art historians including H. Clouzot and Anthony Blunt.

 

One of De l'Orme's primary accomplishments was to change the way architects trained and studied. He insisted that architects needed formal education in classical architecture, as well as in geometry and astronomy and the sciences, but also needed practical experience in construction. He himself was an accomplished scholar of ancient Greek and Roman architecture, as well as a humanist scholar. He argued that architects needed to be able to design and manage every aspect of the building, from the volumes to the lambris to adding up the cost, making detailed three-dimensional drawings of vaults, judging if wood was dry enough, and knowing to stop digging the foundation when the first sand was encountered. He had scorn for those architects who could design a facade but had no knowledge actual construction. His opponents scorned him for his background as the son of a masonry contractor. He was referred to by Bernard Palissy as "The god of the stone masons", which deeply offended him.

 

His other major accomplishment was to resist the tendency to simply copy Italian architectural styles; he traveled and studied in Italy, and borrowed much, but he always added a distinctly French look to each of his projects.

 

The first major building of de l'Orme was the Château of Saint Maur (1541), built for the Cardinal Jean du Bellay, whom de l'Orme had met during his time in Rome. Its plan showed the influence of the Italian villas; and, like the Italian buildings, it was decorated with frescoes.

 

Much of his work has disappeared, but his fame remains. He was an ardent humanist and student of the antique, he yet vindicated resolutely the French tradition in opposition to Italian tendencies; he was a man of independent mind and a vigorous originality. His masterpiece was the Château d'Anet (1552–1559), built for Diane de Poitiers, the plans of which are preserved in Jacques Androuet du Cerceau's Plus excellens bastimens de France, though only part of the building remains. His designs for the Tuileries (also given by Androuet du Cerceau), begun by Catherine de' Medici in 1565, were magnificent. His work is also seen at Chenonceau and other famous châteaux; and his tomb of Francis I at Saint Denis Basilica remains a perfect specimen of his art.

 

The most easily viewed work of de l'Orme in Paris is the court facade of the Chateau d'Anet, which was moved to Paris after a major portion of the chateau was demolished, to illustrate for students the major works of the French Renaissance. It is attached to the front wall of the chapel of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and is visible from Rue Bonaparte.

 

Partial list of works

Château de Saint-Maur (1541), demolished in 1796

Tomb of François Ie in the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Paris (1547)

Château d'Anet (1547-1555), built for Diane de Poitiers. Only one wing remains.

Plans of the Chapel of Saint-Éloi, Paris (1550-1566), (Long attributed, but not documented. Only a portion of the facade remains)

Attribution du château d'Acquigny

Facade of the residence of the Vicomte of the Duchy of Uzès (attributed)

Completion of Sainte-Chapelle at the Château de Vincennes (1552)

Château de Villers-Cotterêts, southern portion( 1547-1559)

Chapel of the Château of Villers-Cotterêts (1552-1553)

Royal Château of Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines (demolished)

Château de Meudon (attributed)

Château de Montceaux

Château de Thoiry (1560s)

The bridge upon which the Château de Chenonceau is constructed

Portions of the Louvre

Portions of the new Chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Portal of Château d'Écouen, now the National Museum of the French Renaissance (mid 16th century). The wing he designed was destroyed in 1787, but vestiges are displayed inside the Chateau.

Roofs of the towers of the Château de Bonnemare.

Published by Grande Consórcio Suplementos Nacionais, Brazil 1940

Note: this photo was published in a Sep 8, 2011 issue of Everyblock NYC zipcodes blog titled "10023."

 

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Some storms get a lot of attention, and some get no attention at all. This one passed through New York City two days before the arrival of Hurricane Irene -- and for a while, it seemed even more intense than Irene, at least in terms of the torrential downpour that it dumped on everyone in Manhattan. But a couple hours later, it had moved out of the city, and everyone forgot about it...

 

I had intended to spend an hour or two photographing in Bryant Park that morning, but the first early drops of rain convinced me that it would probably be a bad idea. So I took a cab up to Broadway and 72nd Street, since I had an appointment in the area later on in the afternoon; and I stood under a protected roof-overhang of the 72nd Street IRT subway station as the rain intensified, wondering if I could find a quiet corner someplace to escape it all ...

 

But as I watched people dashing around in the rain, it occurred to me that it might be more fun to pull my camera out of my backpack, and capture the expressions of those who were prepared (as indicated by their boots and umbrellas) and those who were not prepared (mostly indicated by their sopping-wet appearance).

 

After about 45 minutes of photographing, I noticed a woman staring at me quizzically from a few feet away, by the entrance to the subway station. She asked if I was waiting for someone. Puzzled and slightly confused, I asked her to repeat the question.

 

"Are you waiting for someone?"

 

"Nope," I replied.

 

"Then what are you doing?"

 

"I'm taking photos," I replied, thinking that it should have been obvious.

 

"Of what?"

 

"Of people. Rain. Umbrellas. Anything that looks interesting."

 

"Umbrellas?"

 

"Sure. Why not?"

 

She proceeded to tell me that, in her opinion, such behavior was illegal. I politely disagreed, and she then proceeded to write down my name and address, and a detailed description (narrated into the voice-recorder of her iPhone) of the camera I was using, the focal length of my zoom telephoto lens, and her strong opinion that I knew exactly when I was going to arrive, and exactly how long I was going to continue taking my photos.

 

I reassured her that I had not taken her photograph, and had no interest in doing so (God forbid!) ... at which point she turned and walked away to a different outdoor corner of the subway station, where she waited for her own friends to arrive.

 

Meanwhile, I continued taking photos -- of people, umbrellas, rain, and anything that looked interesting. I eventually ran out of time, put my camera back into my backpack, retrieved an umbrella of my own, and wandered down the street to my next appointment. I had taken a thousand photos, and I had no idea if any of them would be worth saving...

 

And now, four days later, the storm is gone and forgotten, and the strange woman is gone and forgotten. Hurricane Irene has replaced all of those memories, and it probably won't be long before it, too, is forgotten. But I do have some photos that may help illustrate what a typical summer rainstorm is like in New York City...

  

According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Nepal hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers in 2007 numbering approximately 130,000. Of this population, approximately 109,200 persons were from Bhutan and 20,500 from People's Republic of China. The government of Nepal restricted ethnic Nepalese expelled from Bhutan to seven camps in the Jhapa and Morang districts, and refugees were not permitted to work in most professions. At present, the United States is working towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugees in the US.

...........

This girl name Maya age 17, she is the refugee who seek some job in Thailand, I have luck awhile by got her to housekeeper work, 2 months in last couple years. I love her as sister.

..........

Thoughtfully quote; Art Quote of the Day

A good painting has always been like a friend. It keeps us company, comforts and inspires.

Hedy Lamarr, I nodded:)

 

My photostream; www.darckr.com/username?username=11569107%40N06

 

Published in the magazine Bygg & Teknik (Zweden febr.07)

Artikel :- Projektera for demontering -written by dr.Catarina Thormark. (Sweden)

Where is the frog? Published in the Toronto Star (May 17, 2014 and May24, 2014)

This is a Kardorama postcard printed and published in Great Britain, the view is looking north from the south bank of the Thames showing the Tower of London and sailing dinghies. It is Saturday 21st July 1962 and the dinghies are taking part in a race from Putney to the Tower and back again as part of the City of London Festival which was first held in 1962. It was a biennial event until 1980 when it was subsequently held annually until 2015, in April 2016 the Corporation of the City of London ended the Festival citing financial problems due to the lack of sponsors. It was a three week arts Festival consisting of Classical music concerts, lectures and other events including, at least in 1962, a half ton Ox which was roasted at Old Change. The Ox produced 1,000 portions at 2/6 each. There were 332 boats in twelve class groups, each leaving Putney at five minute intervals, the group shown consist of the Enterprise class of dinghy which are discernible by their light blue sails. Other classes were International 14s, Merlin Rockets, 12ft Nationals, Fireflies and Solos. Each group were to beach their boats at the Tower and have lunch whilst the tide turned, it looks like they are on their way back. The beach at the Tower of London dates to 1934 when over a thousand barge loads of sand were dumped on the foreshore to make a beach for the children of London. The beach was opened by King George V and was very popular with local children, some of whom had never been to the seaside. The beach was closed to the public in 1971 over pollution and health concerns.

    

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File: 2020001-0018

 

Somewhere in Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom, on Thursday 7th May 2020, at 8pm.

 

Published with the parent’s permissions.

 

Notice: Geotags are removed, and the exact location will not be mentioned, for privacy and safety.

  

About this photograph.

 

During the Clap for Our Carers gesture on Thursday evening, those two girls and their family stepped outside, but instead of clapping, they showed their support for the NHS (National Health Service) with a live music performance.

 

As you can see in the photos, one of the girls is seen playing the violin while the other girl does the singing.

 

I have no idea what they were singing about, nor do I know what music they played. It looked like a slow singing, maybe classic music.

 

In the tighter framed photos, the man in the T-shirt with sunglasses, and leaning against a car is their father. In the wider shots, the woman on the other side of the road, seen taking photos, is their mother.

 

You may notice a few other people stepping out of their homes, to take part in the clapping as show of support, watching the live performance.

 

The viewpoint was from one of my bedroom windows, as I took the photos of what was going on. I later went to their house, to seek permissions from the parents if I wanted to publish the photos, and they agreed.

  

Why I took the photographs?

 

Starting in February of 2020, my oldest child moved out to live independent, while the other child lived with the mother, I was finally free to try to restart my photography career, and if needed by going freelance. But only about a month later, in March, the United Kingdom went into a national lockdown in order to combat against the rising cases of the coronavirus, which put my plans on hold.

 

It was at that time I decided to try to get serious with Flickr, having registered in 2015, but been inactive for almost 5 years until I restarted using it in 2020. I was trying to find photos to upload and all that.

 

On that day, a Thursday at 8pm, it was time for the usual every Thursday event, to step outside and clap in show of our support for our NHS. I find it much easier to go upstairs, open the window at the front of the house, lean out and clap. From this position I can see other people clapping.

 

This was when I saw the family stepping outside, and setting up their small performance. That was when I went to grab my Nikon, and started trying to take photojournalism style photos as my skills are rather somewhat rusty and I could do with some new practise.

 

After taking the photos, I had to go over to their home, and informed their parents that I do photography, and wanted to check with them if I could have permissions to post my photos on my various profiles (not just Flickr, but also other accounts like with Adobe, etc.) The father agreed to give me permissions. I also gave them as many copies of the photos too.

  

About the subject.

 

The Clap for Our Carers event was a social movement carried out every Thursdays between March to May in 2020, in the United Kingdom as a gesture of appreciation and show of support for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).

 

The idea came from Europe, likely to be either Italy and/or Spain which had lockdowns before the UK did.

 

On Thursdays, people would either step outside their front doors, or lean outside their windows, and give a round of applause. But some people have been taken to banging pots and pans, or playing music.

 

The event was meant to show our support for doctors and nurses, along with other hospital staff, but later included our show for other key workers, health services, ambulance crews, delivery drivers, waste collectors, and any other key workers who have to work during the lockdown.

 

In the fight against the coronavirus known as Covid-19.

       

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The view underwater at Nellie Lake.

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