Where Is the Submachine Gun?

This is one of the famous Vatican Swiss Guardsmen. His clothes may seem silly but his mission isn't. He will give his life for the Pope if he needs to. I've read that while they sometimes wield traditional Renaissance pikes as weapons, they always have an Uzi mini machine gun nearby. The uzi is capable of shooting 600 rounds a minute, which is faster than my camera.

Michelangelo's Other Pieta

Tucked in behind the Duomo in Florence is a easy-to-miss art museum. In it you will see the originals of Ghiberti's Baptistry doors. You will also see this great work, which, so I've read, has the artist's face as the face of Christ. Was Michelangelo trying to make a statement about how he felt he had been treated? Maybe. Michelangelo's face also appears as the face of the flayed St. Bartholomew in The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. St. Bartholomew had also been treated badly by his detractors.

Pont du Garde

This is a Roman aqueduct and bridge in the south of France. What are we building that will still be standing 2000 years from now?

A Real Venetian

I think the lady strolling past the opening to this courtyard is a real Venetian. But she is not a Venusian. (I don't think so, anyway.)

French Pizza

We enjoyed this in Arles, where Vincent Van Gogh lived and worked for a while. I wonder what his impression of French Pizza was?

Elvis Lives!

I captured this rare sighting along the River Seine in Paris.

Copyright Violation?

Did you know that publishing photos of the Eiffel Tower taken during the day are OK but publishing a night time shot violates the copyright held on the Eiffel Tower? It does, though this shot was taken at dusk.

Sexy Serpent

I am about to take a week off from my blog, though ou won't notice this because I am posting a week's worth of photos today. Everyday, a new one will magically appear at midnight GMT. I am posting these photos with few comments, but you don't come to this blog for the words of wisdom, do you?Happy holidays! I'll be back on January 1, 2011.Oh, and today's picture is of Adam and Eve being tempted. Its from the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

I Teach Photography. . .

I am an amateur photographer but I am a professional educator. I've taught English, history and philosophy for over thirty years. But this year I took on the task of teaching photography/media in a new program at the technical college in our town. And it has been a challenge. Today, I sent an email to my students, many of whom show promise and talent. If you'll forgive the personal nature of this, I'm going to let you in I what I said to them:

I think that most of you know that teaching my afternoon classes has been a challenge. In fact, I concluded yesterday that it is one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Four weeks ago, as I drove home from work on a Thursday, I was thinking that "I used to enjoy photography until I started to teach it."Why would I think this? The answer lies in that fact that for quite a few years, what I know about photography has best been revealed in my photos. My pictures are often my voice; but they can't really teach. So the challenge for me is figuring out how to translate what I have practiced and learned for many years into something that makes sense to enthusiasts like you.Here's what I know:Photography isn't a class. It isn't an assignment. And it isn't a job. For me, when I do photography right, it is transcendent: I lose track of time, and space and self. When I am truly engaged in photography, I am engaged in a silent conversation with my subject. The flowers and the leaves and the landscape talk to me and translating this process into something that makes sense to others is a supreme challenge.I also know this:You have done good work and you have talent, skills and curiosity that are worthy of my very best efforts. And you will continue to get that next semester.Thanks for choosing the Photo/Media option and thanks for choosing LATI. We have a lot to learn and I feel privileged to be in a position to help.

Thank you, APAD readers, for taking the time to view my posts from time to time. If no one visited my blog, it would still be a good for me to do. But that fact that on any given day 100 to 200 people stop by provides a good motivation for finding something to post every day.

Avant Garde

Today's offering is another art museum interior - this time a shot of some of the work of the "crackpot" leaders of the Modern Art movement as seen at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I happen to like the crackpots. :-)

The Bird Man And the Child

I was with a group of students in the Montmartre district in Paris and as we were walking down the steps of the Sacre Couer Basilica, I looked down and saw this man and this apparently mesmerized child. This isn't the only photo of a child marveling over birds. What is it about birds that is so fascinating to children?