Works of Art

Hi to all, on a rare grey wet Monday, after a similar yesterday and a night of torrents, thunder and lightning. Warm, though. The rain will pass.
It was such a pleasure to see you come visit the previous post...and more than just a pleasure. Mimi, you arrived just a couple of hours after I had been thinking of you yesterday morning. Cergie, the same [je suis en train d'exprimer mon plaisir à l'égard des visites chez moi d'hier. Et encore davantage, que tu sois arrivée, comme mauigirl et pequete, très peu de temps après que j'aie pensé à toi! Et c'est vrai, ce que tu dis au sujet des hirondelles]. Then pequete did the same. Auds, you are forever...well, Auds. Pat, I'm afraid I don't know you, or how you found me, but it is a shame that this blog reflects today all that is today, rather than what it was.
You see, I have so little to shoot pics of, mostly the same place and the same subjects, which are too limited to make public endlessly. Aslo, I have become afflicted by some kind of internal 'virus', which is leaving me drifting further & further away from the internet, electronic communications and even the computer, to which I am now at times really averse.
However, my pleasure at receiving your warm thoughts & wishes revived me and I want to take advantage of that firstly, to say nothing more that is negative today & secondly, to show you 4 photos shot last week that are not from that same place by the water, and that please me.
1) I think this is the best photo I've taken in ages. Not great at all, but different. I've had my eye on that door for weeks, and finally, I remembered to whip out the camera. It was lucky because the door is not usually open. You may be able to guess that this is the headquarters of the Portuguese Communist Party of Vila Franca de Xira, but I have never come across an entrance like this, with such wonderfully obvious ideological symbolism, anywhere. The PCP IS the sun!!! The open door, though, brings an added symbolism, leading us into the shadows....

 

Now, a meeting with 2 of my most valued local friends, Alenquer on the left and Ferrer on the right. So often, we just bump into each other like this, before lunch or at the end of the afternoon. Alenquer is 67 years old. Ferrer, astonishingly, is 77! Look at him! How can it be? He has lived such a full life here and in Mozambique, has about 6 children and seems to be eternally in his 40s. Not only does he know how to look after himself well, but his mind is fresh and sharp. I've rarely met anyone anywhere so good at talking, about anything, always wothwhile listening to. Incredible memory and no formal education, you should hear him recite vast chunks of poetry or monologues. Or jokes and anecdotes. Philosophy, cinema, politics - he is engaging, funny and almost always smiling. How I appreciate him! And Alenquer.

 

Over the past 3 or 4 weeks, I have developed an unprecedented interest in studying art. Most days, when I am in the library, & if I'm not busy with my own work, I can spend hours absorbed in books on the great artists or periods, learning, studying the works, writing my own impressions. I had a motivation at first to think about Hieronymus Bosch, but then became very focused on Breughel, Toulouse-Lautrec, Seurat and Goya. Above all, Rembrandt.
Then, while browsing, I found this English work last week and could hardly believe that it is a painting, so photographic is it. Often, people comment that a certain photo looks like a painting. This is the contrary. Painted in 1768, that makes it 70 years older than the first photograph. Look at those faces, the light! And the clouds lit by the moon, top right-hand corner. I wish my photo was better, but it was really the best I could do. Stunning, to me at least.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts. And may we all be very very well.