Studio Photography : Eric T., cellist

At the beginning of the month I asked cellist and fellow CUPA student Eric to come into the studio and model for me. Although we had only spoken a few times, I was hoping he wouldn't be too creeped out by my proposed exchange of his time, face, and instrument for free headshots. Lucky for both of us, he accepted my offer, and came to the studio dressed in black and ready to have some fun!

I really enjoy photographing musicians and their instruments, separately and together. Some of you may remember some of the shots from my final project in VIS 212 Introductory Photography (black and white film), which I took last semester. Many of those photos can be viewed online here.

Eric and I ended up doing mostly color digital that day, although I did take a few stunning film shots (which I'm still in the process of printing - stay tuned!). We tried to explore time and motion with long shutter speeds, unusual vantage points and strange poses with the instrument, and we weren't afraid to get a little kitschy!

Haven't had time to mess with any of these yet, so what you're looking at is straight from the camera - completely unedited! (Isn't studio lighting the best?!) *Although it seems uploading to Blogger does mess with photo quality...

First shot of the day, a candid snapped haphazardly as Eric was tuning; ended up being one of our favorites.

We even got a visit from Patouche, the studio cat, who wanted his share of the spotlight!

Yoga cello!

Unconventional.

Classic.

Dark and mysterious.

Want to hear Eric play? Check him out on YouTube! (And don't miss the awesome four-handed cello duet video!)

Sunday Vignettes (9/18)

Sunday I met up with V., an American friend whom I hadn't seen since mid-high school. She now lives in London and was visiting Paris with her boyfriend, boyfriend's sister, and boyfriend's sister's friends. It was a lively international bunch - exactly the kind of group one would want to romp around Montmartre with.

We met at métro stop Pigalle, then trekked up the hill to the Sacré Cœur cathedral by an alternate route and somehow managed to avoid the scammers who prey on tourists (grab your wrist, start making a bracelet around it, then make you pay for it) AND the long line to get into the cathedral (we cut without realizing).

We were still allowed to tour the inside of the stunning neo-Byzantine cathedral, even though Mass was going on at the same time. It was kind of awkward to be a "looky-loo" while people who were genuinely there for service sat and prayed or took communion...but so be it.

As we descended the hill, we passed a Paraguayan harpist playing on the steps - the same harpist I saw there in 2009!

2009

2011

We then passed the famous Moulin Rouge and a variety of sex shops (Montmarte is home to Paris' red light district) ...

And then, since it was an unabashedly touristic day, we ate lunch at Le Café des Deux Moulins - the café from the movie "Amélie" ("Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain"). It was un peu cher, but we vegetarians (there were several of us) were able to get lovely salads sans jambon (without ham).

Finally, we took a stroll through the Cimetière de Montmartre. We spent a good amount of time looking for Oscar Wilde's grave before realizing that he is in fact buried in the even-more-famous Père Lachaise cemetery (20e arrondissement). Still, all was not lost, since we happened upon the grave of French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz, most noted for his Symphonie fantastique; as there were several musicians in our little group, this was almost just as exciting!

cooking for one...

...can actually be quite lovely and self-indulgent.

Tuesday afternoon, I made myself a salad (above) of lettuce, beets, cherry tomatoes, corn, and sheep's milk feta; and an onion and tomato omelet, while I listened to Stéphane Grappelli.

A relaxing, clichéed French afternoon!