Category: Fourre-tout

A little bit of everything

Worth a thousand words…

I have now been playing pétanque regularly for the last 12 years.
Thanks to the game I have met a lot of people.
But I am the first to admit that I am not good at remembering names; I go around this shortcoming by using cheat-sheets.
Since I am a photographer, I frequently use people’s snapshots to jog my memory and put a name on a face.

I don’t think I am alone in this respect. Out of sight, out of mind goes the saying.
If you don’t see people on a regular basis, their faces tend to fade away.

It is for this reason that I decided to put together a book featuring various Bay Area pétanque players. To keep memories alive.

IMG_3268 - Version 2This album is also a paean to pétanque. One of its purposes is to display exciting pictures of the game and incite undecided individuals to join our brotherhood.

I chose the books’ pictures according to certain criteria.
First and foremost, I wanted to feature “action shots”.
I wanted to showcase the excitement of the game by focusing on players in action, and by showing “boules” standing dramatically still in the air for a fraction of a second before streaking towards their targets.

Next, I wanted to feature people displaying a “good form”, an elegant demonstration of athletic ability.
I think that an elegant stance is easier on the eye than an awkward one.

Finally, I wanted the pictures to be well focused and devoid of annoying shadows.
Not as easy as you might think.

IMG_0128 copyWith advancing age, older players start coming to the field less frequently until one day they completely stop coming.
And then they trek to the great pétanque field in the sky.

With each passing day, their memory becomes fuzzier and fuzzier until one day we struggle to remember them at all.
This colorful book makes it is easier to identify and reminisce about the present and the sometimes forgotten players of yesteryear.

Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors”.

Personally I believe that it is photographers who report history most accurately and through their pictures, make the most lasting impression.
Hence, this collection of images.

Alain

PS: To look at photos of people included in this book, click on “My Photos“.

PS2: If you would like to obtain a copy of this book please let me know.

 

Addiction

I am an addict. I confess.
I cannot go three days in a row without succumbing to my wickedness.

I am hooked on photography. I MUST take photographs! That’s it, I have said it!
Wherever I go I usually carry a camera; it enables me to indulge my vice with reckless abandon.

IMG4776-XLSince the advent of digital photography one can literally shoot (and waste) hundreds of pictures in a single day.
The number of pictures taken (once restricted by films) is now only limited by the storage capacity of the camera’s flash memory card.
With the price of SD cards plummeting, just about anybody can now afford 8GB and even 16GB cards, even in point and shoot cameras.

But gluttony has a price.
Recently I noticed that my photo program (iPhoto) was getting sluggish.
It occurred to me that this problem could be related to the amount of pictures stored on my hard disk.
Last time I checked, I discovered that I was storing over 13,500 photographs on my hard drive.

My computer sports a Christie-like stomach. A girth of one terabyte (1000 gigabytes) to be precise.
In order to be more responsive my machine had to lose weight.
But diets are not easy. To be successful you have to forsake something that you love and as the song says “breaking up is hard to do.”

Discarding photographs is always a hard decision. They are your babies and it is always difficult to part with them.
You keep some pictures for their exceptional quality, but you also keep many (not so good pictures) for sentimental reasons.

In iPhoto, pictures are grouped by “events”, the day that the pictures were taken.
I went through each event with a Javert-like determination to cull my herd.

After a week of hard work I have discarded close to 1500 shots. I think that my machine is now lighter on its feet but I have to watch myself.
A relapse is always possible. I could fall off the wagon anytime and start shooting recklessly again.
I just have to be careful and above all, avoid binging.

If you are cute or unusually fetching, don’t tempt me. For my mental health and for my computer’s sake avoid my field of vision.

Thank you for your understanding.

Alain

 

Sex surrogate

Last night I watched a 2012 thought-provoking movie called “The Sessions”.
It stars John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and William H. Macy.

Based on at true story, it tells the story of journalist and poet Mark O’Brien. Paralyzed from the neck down due to polio and confined to an iron lung, he never had sex. At age 38, knowing that his days are numbered, he endeavors to lose his virginity.

With the help and guidance of a priest (William H. Macy) he hires a sex-surrogate (Helen Hunt) to help him reach his goal.

First of all, it never occurred to me that a man paralyzed from the neck down could entertain sexual fantasies.
Able-bodied men, yes. They think about sex all the time. But a severely handicapped man?
A misconception indeed!

According to a CNN report “men think about it about 19 times a day on average, whereas women think about sex 10 times a day on average.”

According to the same report “Having sexual thoughts is healthier than not having them.”
So regardless of your condition, you are better off thinking about sex than politics.
If you are buried in politics, you are probably a miserable lover.

I was also surprised to learn that a man in such a dire condition could have an erection. But obviously he can. Another misconception.

Mark, a deeply religious man confides in a priest about his predicament.
Again, you would not think that a priest would be the ideal person to talk about such subject.
But the priest (William H. Macy) is not an ordinary cleric. He is a long-haired hippy-looking dude who surprisingly encourages him to go through with his discovery journey.
I think that the Catholic Church would greatly benefit from such enlightened individuals.

Helen-HuntThen there is the sex surrogate, Helen Hunt.
At 50, Helen Hunt is in a great shape and not a bit bashful about disrobing and appearing entirely nude in a few sessions. Few actresses her age would dare to pull such a stunt, but she does it in a tasteful natural manner and deserves a lot of credit for it.
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 85th Academy Awards.

This leads me to think about sex surrogates.
First of all, what prompts a woman to become a sex surrogate? Love of sex or sympathetic concern for the sufferings of others?
Possibly both. Who knows?

A sex surrogate, as Helen Hunt points it out, is not a prostitute. She gets paid for services rendered and cares about her clients.
In the movie she keeps detailed records of her encounters and works in cooperation with a team of professionals.

According to Wikipedia, “Many surrogates have professional certification in the fields of sex education, somatic psychology, sexology, psychology, or counseling. This allows them to work in an interdisciplinary mode including psychiatrists, psychologists, sexologists and other therapists.”

An intriguing profession, a thought-provoking story and a surprising ending!

Alain