Notre Dame La Grande, Poitiers (Vienne) South aisle

South side aisle of this beautiful Romanesque church.

Very nice. I like the vertical lines and all the fantastic detail. JH

I agree with JH. Also I love the colors, shadows and light.

This is good and beautiful work.

... for your kind comments, very much appreciate them. This was a shot that I had in my original files from last May but I had never really looked at it. In the distance was an alcove with several elderly women at prayer in a room lit by candles. That is what you see in the background. I had hoped to see one particular widow who I had thought was very interesting, and when she was not in the picture, I forgot about it. Funny how our expectations sometimes trick our eyes. Again, I appreciate your comments, and Lennart, nice to hear from you again. I admire your work very much.

Dennis, have just had a pleasant browse through some of your work, your use of light is just simply wonderful. Would be the standout feature in what you do, well at least for me it is. Is funny as 35 years a go I also did a tour of some of Europes old Cathedrals, my interest was the stain glass windows. Unfortunately that was about all I saw. Tunnel vision, monomaniac not sure, but was my loss. All the best......roger

... this is, as you see, one of my all-time favorites. As mentioned earlier, it was a shot where I was trying to get a shot of an elderly woman lighting the candle in the distant side altar. By the time I was prepared, of course, she was gone. I took the shot anyway, but didn't even look at it for months. What a surprise when I saw it. Perfect light in the distance. You must have gotten some amazing shots of stained glass from your cathedral visits.

 

I've personally not found a lot of satisfaction shooting stained glass, can't seem to catch the magic of the great stuff. In actuality, the painted glass seems to photograph better than the stained glass, for some reason. Seeing the light coming through the glass onto columns and nave floors, however, can be very nice (I've got a picture of Issoire in one of my folders). But I'd love to see some good cathedral window shots ... so dig through those archives and post away! And greetings to the antipodes!

...this is my favorit :)

... no question that this is one of my favorites.

To show 3 thumnails fomr the portfolio with every single photo !

 

Dennis,

 

I don't know how many time I've come to visit and admire your work, browsing through all folder, and it looks like I see this one for the first time !

 

One of my favorites

... and how lucky I am that you came upon one of my absolute favorite shots. Glad you liked it and glad to see you wandering about these old churches :)

For me, Churches, may have been built in older time, but are still alive, especially when viewed through your eye and cameras, and they never feel old in themselves.

... you are right. The first thing that PJ and I notice when we go into a new church is exactly that. Is it fully alive, is it a museum, is it barely breathing? Some few are dead. There is nothing sadder than seeing something like the church at Treves near Anjou, empty, vide. Just a shell with a dirt floor. It is restored, but there has been no human contact for years, except some curious folks wandering in. Others are vibrant, filled with flowers and mementoes and ex-votoes, candles burning in hidden corners, people moving quietly in and out. Notre Dame de Thuret was like that, a discovery with her black madonna. Others are part museum and part house of worship ... some happy in the duty and others not. But you can really feel it there. It's a 1000 years of intense spiritual activity leaving its mark in stone, I believe.

This photograph is absolutely wonderful, Dennis. My father came to Paris at a very early age, but he was born in Poitiers. My wife and I went there two years ago. Another rare beauty. Here is a great shot in stunning detail and great atmosphere. I can easily understand why it is one of your very favourites.

... ton pere est poitivin? Wonderful area and people. I lived in the Poitiers area for two years growing up. Can you imagine a 12 year old American boy coming to this town (Abbeville Caserne, then the headquarters for the US Army presence there), standing at the top of the hill beneath the statue of Mary and looking out over this town. To this day, I can remember M. Gayet, a friend from Vivonne, pointing out Saint Radegonde, Cathedrale Saint Pierre, and Notre Dame la Grande, the three great churches in the center of the city. Later I learned of the Baptistere Saint Jean and of course the magnificent Saint Hilaire. This particular shot of Notre Dame la Grande encapsulates everything that I feel and love about Romanesque architecture. Your words, Laurent, are a pleasure to see on these pages.