Cloister, Abbaye de Fontenay, Fontenay (Cote d'Or)

In this shot I tried to capture some of the stillness and mystery of the monastic life. This was

a house to worship a sheltering God, and the very structure of the church reflected that

mission.

I really think this is one of your best yet Dennis. It has so much atmosphere and the mood is so familiar. The (how much?) pilars of wisdom highlighted. I think it's just great.

Very atmospheric, I love the dark and deepness to this. Great shot.

... lots of experimenting to do, Ton, with this black and white. There is a huge range of control that I really hadn't played with. Thanks for your encouragement and advice. Are you going to post the Saint Sulplice shot? I played with it for a minute or so and it really took to the level changes!

 

Hugh, I just two minutes ago left your Salisbury shot and here you are at Fontenay. Thanks for your compliments, looks like we have another church photographer!

The composition, the strong contrast generates some mysterious atmophere. BR Joerg

This is good compositionally, and the light is good, with nice modeling on the pillars, but the shadows are all clipped to 0,0,0.

You've gone a long way toward capturing the feel of the place. The composition and exposure are well done.

Beautiful image. Perfectly handled lights. Great work.

I've kind of run out of adjectives to describe your work. You can only say "superb" so many times before the words start sounding trite and lose their impact. But I'll tell you this, you continue to impress me especially your mastery of light and shadow.

I wrote a long commentary and deleted because it was too long. in short....you are doing the right thing and you should not stray from it except for resolution. I hope you keep very high res versions.

Ahhh, excellent! My favorite of your "photographic" shots remains Eglise Abbatiale Lavaudieu, Lavaudieu (Puy-de-Dome), but this is right up there near the top. Of course many of your other shots better reflect the story of these grand churches, but for sheer mood and atmosphere... this is indeed "superb"! Thanks again for sharing... Mike

 

 

Honestly, The first word that came to mind was mysterious.Love the pov.

The play between light and shadow is very delineated with the encompassing dark background adding mystery to the composition. A very well defined shot that is intriguingly alluring.

Did I say that you are becoming a genius at this? It's hard to say true compliments...fake ones are so common that true one almost hurt to say because they can be questioned and it hurts to be asked if you loved something or someone truly when you thought you did and everyone else faked it and did not care. I care, well...it's just my word of course. That's why the "WORD" is so important I guess...I get it or do I? oh well who cares...this picture is a subject I have so many things to say about that i will only say it to you in private Dennis for you will think I am crazy or semi retarted if I start expressing it now.

... look at the comments! Wow, you folks are too much. Okay, here is my long-winded response to you all. To you all, thanks. This was a shot that I'm still not decided on because I "PROCESSED" it, actually manipulated it to achieve a pre-determined idea. As you know, I don't usually do that, but just try to present what came out of the camera. I blame it all on you folks who have encouraged my experimentation in black and white :)

 

J�rg, thanks for your comments on this and the other shots lately. It's always great to see a new name because that means I get to bounce back and see new photographs. If I can make it past that terrifying self-portrait of yours, I'll spend some time in your portfolio :)

 

Les, I checked the histogram and you're on the money with your comment on the clipped blacks. Of course, before my processing it was nowhere near that zero point.

 

Eric, it's a pleasure to welcome you to my portfolio as well. I normally spend all my time in representation, but here ventured into expression, to use your terms. I'm glad you liked the result.

 

Xiang, your stairway with the red-clad climbers (Study of Curves, Color and Motion, I believe is what it is called) is one of the defining photographs on PN for me. I think I go to that shot at least once a month. I put it in the same category as Colin Carron's shot of the crossing at Ely Cathedral, which I consider masterful). So, that's just a long way of saying thank you, that praise from you is high indeed.

 

Jack, your comment the other day on how you have discovered the power of these churches is all I need. Your compliments are welcome, but as you know, your discovery is the real reward.

 

Mike, thanks again. The Lavaudieu shot is one of my favorites as well. In fact, I shouldn't be surprised if it takes a turn in the Top 3 folder soon, replacing the Chauriat shot. Do you owe Jack a royalty on the use of "superb"?

 

Joseph, the POV is very hard for me in cloisters, as a rule. PJ uses a long lens to terrific effect ... she gets this wonderful sense of compression and repetition and rhythm that I can't capture with my wide angle. Of course I COULD use a long lens myself, but I'm stubborn and am trying to find the right way to shoot the cloister with my 24mm. I like this version and am pleased with the panorama of this cloister, but for someone with a library of 500 cloister shots, my percentage is not very high :)

 

Adan, I knew you'd like this version. Came home after our conversation on the phone today and started work on this immediately. You do like the atmospheric shots that play to your keen sense of memory and of mystery.

 

Pascal, omigod, he used the "g" word. Pascal, one reason that you are my good friend, and one reason that I admire you so much is that you wear your heart on your sleeve. You have strong feelings and you are never afraid to express them. Sometimes you go back and edit yourself (you have certainly set the PN record for the most bios :) but you do express those thoughts and emotions that move you. That is powerful and I treasure it. So express what you will, and I promise that I will never think you crazy, no matter how much you make me laugh. Merci, cher ami.

Don't deprive the rest of us from your genius Pascal.

To me this is 'pillars of the earth' personified. I know it is the title of Follett's book; but the emphasis in this photograph are the pillars, the columns, made of rock; rock from the earth. The light is amazing as it slips through the gaps in the columns and illuminates the flagstones. Could the Empress Maude, or Harry her son, or Eleanor of Aquitaine have seen this? I think yes. Thank you for bringing Abbey de Fontenay to me; each beautiful image, one at a time. Cheers! Chris

There are times where light seems thick as syrup, flowing heavily into a scene and seeming as permanent and immovable as the subjects it illuminates. This is one of those scenes where the sunlight is palpably felt. The columns seem more the afterthought (as beautiful as they are), like sticks and stones in the middle of a great river. The light is flowing heavily around them and proclaiming itself. I like the triangular nature of the composition, pulling the eye in toward the dark recess in the back. I love the floor in particular with the dappled light mixing with the details in stone.

... I love Pascal's rants. I'm thinking about publishing a book of his bios :) PJ warned that it would be like War and Peace, it would be so long!

 

Chris, believe it or not, I just read the book about a month ago for the first time. PJ had read it years ago and dug it out for me. Fontenay was one of the monasteries founded by the great Bernard of Clairvaux. He put them in the "wilderness" far away from temporal temptations. As a result, they are so peaceful and calming, sheltering. That is the feeling I tried to get here.

 

Pierre, are you still lashed to the mast listening to your personal siren? It is hard for me to picture you any other way :) I've decided that you don't terminate your HTML code so that you can find your path back through the labyrinth of Photonet! So, how many classical metaphors can I bring up in one comment?

 

Jeff, when I read PJ your description, she lit up and said, "That's perfect. What a wonderful writer, to be able to capture that picture in words so exactly. He perfectly described something so visual." She asked me to tell you that she admires your ability to do that.

Yes, Jeff is right, without the arched ceiling light at the top right, this picture would be 2 dimensional, it's a vital part. What I talked about and deleted was about the old Ilford 25 asa I used when digital did not exist because of its tremendous fine detail it could capture , almost like having a large format resolution in 24x36. One of the problem of that film though was its craving for light,m especially interiors. So lots of films would come out almost transparent which meant that they let all the light through and created an effect of light being eaten by the dark. I think that the dark rather than the light is what is thick as syrup, almost as when you turn a positive into a negative. It turns a flaw into a strenght,creates a very special atmosphere which is perfectly captured. But what I love about this picture more than the special effects (which are great by themselves) is the lack of extraneous elements...there is a Roman Cloister which also obeys the law of aesthetic of the best Japanese building and also would satisfy Mosque sobriety...It excels by its lack of anything which would compromise its perfection. You know, as if you take a picture with lots of stuff and you take pieces one at the time until only the absolute essence of it is left, as grenouille extracts the perfect perfume out of women, Dennis extracted the essence of the place and put it into a picture (well without killing anyone of course)

Very good composition which drives my eye along thr cloister. I like the depth and the superb light.IMO, the B&W brings some mysticism into the image. I feel like I could hear the noise of the silence.

Hi Dennis, nearly missed your question. Yes, I've uploaded Saint Sulpice, thanks for your advice on it.

Very unusual to say the least, the columns upper parts looks like human heads....I looked a long time to see where the light is coming from and how it "engraved" the line of " human statues"... It is a masterpiece of your art within a given art Dennis, the thick shadow and crawling light to the inside is beautifuly observed. The place with the arced end has a mysterious feeling....

Great Photo, I really get the feeling that the light is trying to break through this impenetrable line of pillars. It's like a battle of light VS darkness........a really powerful image to me.

... some great discussion going on around this photo, one which I almost didn't even post :)

 

Pascal, your line "It excels by its lack of anything which would compromise its perfection." That is perfection itself. In is a reductio on my reductio and encapsulates perfectly something I believe is at the very heart of true art. Your observation about the dark flowing ... I get that same sense, as if it is retreating before the light. And the Ilford discussion, which you probably deleted earlier, is a wonderful way to capture your thoughts. No need ever to edit on my account.

 

Armindo, that silence is something we cannot even imagine in our lives. From the way you shoot the images in your portfolio, I believe that you seek those quiet moments, that solitude, in the midst of the other world. Your shots are of a single figure in a landscape, a couple in the distance on an othewise empty beach, empty vistas of water, of land, a fisherman isolated against the sea. Almost never do I see two people in one of your shots, and if they are there (like the umbrella couple), they are isolated from everyone else. I hope that this is not loneliness on your part, but the desire for solitude and silence. As such, I thank you for recognizing that quality in this shot.

 

Ton, thanks for uploading the shot, see it now, will run off and look at what you did with it.

 

Pnina, "thick shadow and crawling light". And you say that you have problems with your English! Thank you for the wonderful compliment.

 

Tim, such a great metaphor, the battle between light and dark, because of course that is what it was in reality, that is how they saw their struggle; the battle between ignorance and knowledge, good and evil, light and dark.