We get requests from many photographers, both experienced and novices, who want to understand what it takes to shoot at these churches. We have provided technical explanations already – we have discussed our camera gear, the lenses that we use and our procedures on a shooting trip. We always stress the importance of preparation; to […]
There has been so much damage to the Romanesque monuments in the Saintonge region of France – the Hundred Years War was brutal, and then the wars of religion and the French Revolution continued the devastation – that it is difficult to find a church that has not been substantially rebuilt in the area. One […]
Craig Shier wrote to us last week about our post on the Église Saint Gal de Langast, “It’s great that you are documenting these “lesser” churches. There was tremendous diversity beyond that seen in the “great” churches.” We have already shot 37 churches in our two weeks in France this year, and of those, 30 […]
When people talk to us about our Via Lucis project, they seem most impressed that we shoot the great cathedrals of Chartres, Orleans, or Reims, but most of our work is on churches far less imposing. Last week, for example, we shot the Église Saint Gal de Langast in the Côtes-d’Armor department of Brittany. To […]
This post originated from an interesting conversation that I recently had with Robert Consoli, who has a site called Squinchpix. Robert has as passionate a dedication to documenting and archiving European archaeological and architectural sites as PJ and I have in our more narrow field of specialization, the Romanesque and Gothic churches. The conversation centered […]
It’s all about research. One fact about my family is that we love research. My brother John Paul is a professional researcher. Brother David is a Ph.D. oceanographer and has hundreds of publications to his name. Sister Ann is a writer/editor and has innumerable titles on her resumé. I’m not in their league, but make […]
Every form of activity has its own private vocabulary, its slang, its patois. I remember when my parents first visited a film set on which I was directing, my mother was aghast when she heard someone yell, “Get the skirt off the broad and kill that baby!” She calmed down after I assured her that […]
We’ve seen ample evidence of the imagination of the Romanesque sculptors, but one of our recent favorites, the Column Swallower, has become the most recent proof. According to the limited research that I’ve been able to find on the subject, they are found mostly in the Aquitaine and in England. The four that I’m showing […]
PJ and I are preparing for our next trip to France to shoot the churches. We just finished prepping the electronic gear (computers, hard drives, cables, IPads, etc.). The cameras have been sent to Canon Professional Services for routine maintenance, lenses are ready. Last year we did a post on Our Procedures in France – […]
It has always been one of my favorite churches, the Basilica of Saint Austremoine in Issoire, located in the heart of the Auvergne. For one, it is one of the largest, most perfectly conceived Auvergnat churches. But it is also painted in bright, stunning colors which remind us that these Romanesque churches were painted like […]
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