Photography | The Daily Norm

Feb 25

Life lessons from a rose at its best

I’ve always thought that a rose is at its very best just before it dies. When in bud a rose is elegant; almost like a young girl ready to ripen into the fulness of her adult beauty. When it starts to open, the flower begins to form a pleasing curved shape, almost like a small teacup, delicately scooping up and inwards, before spreading outwards again opening into a multi layered, but still complex bundle of petals. But my favourite stage is the point just before a rose begins to die, when its petals have spread to their widest in an attempt to gather as much possible light and air. It is at this stage that the shape and the fullness of the rose is at its most sumptuous and generously bounteous. All of its multiple petals have curved outwards showing the rich layering of its structure, like a dense lacy undergarment from the Victorian age, and it’s cupcake shape has spread further resembling more of a regal crown with its abundant beauty spread wide to capture the widest admiring audience.

But as beautiful as the rose is at this stage, you know that it is but days away from death and decay; when the edges of those sumptuously soft petals begin to turn, go brown and shrivel, until the petals start falling one by one, unveiling beneath their elegant cluster the uglier stamen at the flower’s centre.

It was as I was staring, enchanted, by a beautiful bunch of orangey-peach roses in my lounge the other day that I contemplated this life cycle, admiring both the beauty of the roses as the whole bunch had expanded into a sea of mango-coloured wonder, but also reflecting, somewhat sadly, that this array of perfectly placed colour is but a transient creation, soon to shrivel up and diminish. But what it also made me realise is that while on the one hand it seems ironic that something can be at its most beautiful when it is at its closest to death, there is also a life lesson to be learnt here: that nothing lasts for ever, and happiness, joy, and beauty are all things which are transient. If that isn’t a reason to enjoy life to the full, and to reflect upon and appreciate the best of every moment, at every opportunity, I don’t know what is.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Feb 19

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Finding the light in a gloomy wet winter

Gloomy short days which get dark before you make it home in the evening; a deluge of rain which has flooded areas of the UK whose residents didn’t even realise they had a river nearby; and a protracted season without leaves on the trees or flowers on the ground. The winter is a long, depressing period which I cannot stand. Days go by without any sense of hope or vitality of life; when you don’t even notice the scant daylight, and get used to a life without sunshine.

For me the only way to get through the winter is by taking a threefold approach: 1. To think, dream, paint and write about past holidays, and to book a load more for the year ahead; 2. To eat lots of delicious food whose flavours are imbued with the flavour palette of the Mediterranean and other sunny locations; and 3. Whenever the slightest glimpse of sunshine peeks through the clouds, to rush out of doors to soak in this rare glimpse of happiness.

The small collection of photos on this post were taken during my Winter-survival tactic number 3, usually over my lunch hour when I occasionally take a stroll through St James’ Park in Westminster to blow away some of the winter cobwebs. It’s amazing to see, during those walks, that despite the protracted period of winter, nature is still very much in action (that may be in part due to the excess of rain which has kept London temperatures pretty mild). In St James’ park for example, there is no sign of hibernation for the cute little squirrels who scurry tamely around London tourists in search of their lunch; and the huge resident pelicans are still out and about, preening their snowy white feathers before crowds of camera-happy visitors.

So in sharing this small set of photos, which also includes a glimpse of a 4^th way to get through the winter – cinema season! – as well as some of my Instagram shots taken out and about in the capital, I hope to spread some of the hope which these moments provided to all those of you who wonder when this gloomy season will ever end. Let’s hope it’s soon.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Feb 7

Bianco Nero – Italy in a Vintage Light

As an artist who loves colour, who believes dulling down the vibrancy of paint straight from the tube is a kind of sacrilege, I am incredibly drawn to the power and atmosphere of black and white. It’s always surprised me that in the process of draining all of the colour out of an image leaving only tone and light and shadow behind, all of the emotional charge of the image is somehow more focused, almost as though the absence of colour leaves room for passion to breathe.

And it’s not just photos either. Black and white films hold an endless fascination for me, and once you’ve watched a few, you become so charmed by their subtle nuanced light that the next colour film you watch seems all too jarring and unauthentic. It’s like a calendar I recently saw in Rome of Audrey Hepburn’s famous debut Roman Holiday. On one page were beautiful black and white stills from the film we all know and love so well; on the next coloured up versions, which looked so Disney and brash by comparison. And then of course there’s Picasso’s Guernica – one of the most powerful paintings in all of the history of art – despite being painted exclusively in tones of grey.

While it’s tempting to think that the appeal of black and white photography harps back to a vintage age, when life was elegant and free from the trappings of modern life, a theory easily justified by photography heroes such as Doisneau and Brassai who so perfectly captured Paris in black and white in the inter-war years, in fact, as this post attempts to show, black and white can be just as atmospheric even when adapted to the modern age.

After weeks recollecting my recent trip to Italy, my final hurrah is a post which explores the medium of black and white photography (along with a few sepia examples thrown in to boot) with Italy and its people as a willing model. Of course it’s easy in the digital age to convert a standard colour photograph to black and white and back again, but as these shots hopefully demonstrate, the transformation is far from just the colour.

Moody, evocative, almost caught in a time vacuum, these shots have taken on a character all of their own just for being distilled in monochrome. Without the blue of the Venetian water, a ripple takes on an abstract, mysterious form; with the colour gone from their faces, random passers by in Roman squares look like actors from a golden age film; and in Naples, the shadow of an old woman in the sunlight is, in black and white, like a menacing character straight out of Victorian fiction. Now that truly is the power of black and white.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Feb 5

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Natale Italiano | Naples – A photographic miscellany

You’d be forgiven for assuming from my recent posts of late that I am on something of a downer on Naples. Much has been said about the graffiti and the grime, the overflowing bins and the dodgy back streets. However let me dispel any illusion that I am anything but a fan of this city. Who could be otherwise? Exuding a loud passionate spirit like no other Italian city to the North, Naples is unapologetic in every way, from its robust flavours and shouting locals, to its busy seaside port and its unabashed hoarding of some of the most stunning artistic treasures of art history stretching back to ancient Rome and before.

Benefitting from its stunning Mediterranean location, just North of the idyllic Sorrento peninsula and nestled in a bay in front of the towering majestic presence of Vesuvius, Naples cannot help but exude beauty from every vantage point. But beyond the general geography of the region, Naples is a city which is full of eclectic contrasts, sensational architecture, and all of the small urban details which get my camera clicking faster than a hungry Neapolitan can finish off one of their tasty pizzas (which is fast).

So in my last photographic miscellany of my extensive 5 week Italy blog season (well, I say last, but look out for the atmospheric black and white special coming up at the end of the week!) I explore all of the street details, the architectural peculiarities, and all of the beautiful and unique characteristics which make Naples the seductive city it is.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Feb 3

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The Daily Norm’s Photo of the Week: Quartieri Spagnoli

In last week’s photography post focusing on the deteriorating face of the urban sprawl of Naples, I reflected, not without sadness, upon the degeneration of a city whose streets and houses were once the envy of the Mediterranean, but which today are the sad victim of reckless neglect and intentional vandalism. And in that post I also mused at the possible cause of this generalised decline – whether it be the possible inertia of a local government faced with the impossible scale of its urban problems, or the significant gap between rich and poor which continues to characterise the city today.

Yet while it is almost inevitably the poorer parts of the city which demonstrate the most obvious signs of neglect and deterioration, there can be no doubting that as a subject for photography, these areas are as captivating as the glossier hotel-packed areas of the city’s coastal facade. And this is no more so than in the Quartieri Spagnoli region of the city – a complete ramshackle hodge-bodge of homes and businesses crammed into tiny hilly streets. While tourists are urged to enter the area with caution, the braver amongst them may well be rewarded for their efforts by the interesting photos which result.

While we did not venture very far into the area, I love this photo which I took of the Quartieri Spagnoli so much that I decided to give it a post all of its own. From the little basket of oranges in the immediate foreground and the differently shaped lamps and shop signs framing the scene from the right and left, to the profusion of laundry hanging out to dry and the wires which criss cross the street; this photo, which shows a typical street of the Quartieri Spagnoli, is a perfect representation of the tightly packed highly populated region, and the Napolese character which it exudes.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 30

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Natale Italiano | Naples – Photography Focus: Grime beneath the Gloss

Walking through the elegant marble floored glass and steel shopping arcade of the Galleria Umberto I, past the sweeping facade of the Palazzo Reale or along the hotel-lined coastal path , you’d be excused for thinking that Naples is a city as extravagantly wealthy and elegant as Vienna or London or Paris. But Naples is a tale of two cities; a metropolis of two very irreconcilable extremes of wealth and poverty.

And you don’t need to wander far from the Mediterranean facade to encounter the results of this cultural conflict. Tour guides are careful in warning tourists away from the tightly packed Quartieri Spagnoli district which sits bang in the centre of Naples, but is neverthelss renowned for cramped living conditions, narrow hilly streets and the poverty of its residents. Strung with laundry and dense with local shops and businesses, the area is among the most characterful of the city; but pretty scary, especially after dusk. Meanwhile, even in the areas where tourism is encouraged and the masterpieces of the city are to be found in their multitudes such as the Spaccanapoli and the Decumano Maggiore, the streets and shops and doorways and houses are covered from head to toe with layer upon layer of ugly graffiti, while further up the facades, the distinct evidence of decay, even on the most palatial of residences, is plain to be seen.

But beyond the extremes of rich versus poor, which has no doubt contributed to the miserable living conditions in which many Neapolitans live, Naples appears to be a city which has given up on itself, and lost control of its appearance, and perhaps also its pride. For me it felt like an instance in my own home – when a few things need cleaning up, I’m keen to do the job and have my home sparkling again. But when the dirt and mess mounts up, my energy fails me, and the situation only becomes worse as an inertia takes over any enthusiasm to clean up the mess. In Naples, the same kind of inertia appears to have crept in a long time ago. And it’s a shame – a real shame. For looking upwards in all of the areas mentioned above, you can see palaces and churches which more than rival the architectural gems of the cities further North in Italy, and yet those same beautiful buildings have been gradually covered in graffiti; their pavements covered with rubbish spilling from the bins; and the distinct smell of urine left to stagnate against their walls.

Even in the sunshine (when let’s face it, everywhere looks better), you cannot help but notice these defects which are gradually turning Naples into the kind of dump it does not deserve to be. I’m not sure what the answer is – after all, where would you begin in the mammoth clean-up operation required by this city? But I really hope that one day soon, the Italian government, if not the Naples one, sits up and recognises that in Naples’ decline, they are losing a real, historically important, artistically significant treasure.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 28

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Natale Italiano | Naples – Photography Focus: Ripples of the Riviera

I may have thought the ripples and watery reflections of Venice were great, but in the sun-drenched marinas of Naples, we were given a ripple spectacle like Venice on ecstasy. Boats in vibrant primary colours of yellow and red and blue scattering a kaleidoscope of colour into the water, yachts with their proud white masts punctuating the cerulean ripples reflected below, and the sunshine glinting over the sea like a carpet of crystals – this was photographically seductive, ripple-ravishing heaven.

No doubt it was the timing of this visit – a sunny stroll on an otherwise cold December day – which made the experience of dipping into the sensations of the summer all the more special. Breathing air which is tinted with warmth feels like indulging in a glass of heavenly nectar after a day when wretched thirsty work has left the mouth parched; being by the sea when all of the senses have become numbed by the smoke, the rush and the monotony of city life is like a face splashed with freshness on a hot clammy day; feeling the rays of the sun filling the skin with its vitamin-filled goodness is like applying a glinting layer of gold to a dull pot of steel.

Not only did this reconnaissance with the summer make us feel optimistically alive, and produce some stunning photos of the water, but it also seemed to have the world out to enjoy the weather in unison. And so this little set of photos includes not just the incredible effects of mother nature’s fusion of sunshine and water, but also glimpses of Neapolitan life, as fishermen go about their business by the waters edge, and locals come out from their winter-clad houses to enjoy the hope that the fine weather brings.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 27

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Natale Italiano | Naples – Day 1: Coastline Castles and the Spaccanapoli

After the dazzling ancient spectacles and baroque masterpieces of Rome, and the elegant watery wonderland of Venice, we weren’t exactly enamoured by Napoli when we arrived one late afternoon after Christmas. Described by some as the last bastion of civilisation before Italy turns savage to the South, it felt to us a little like civilisation had gone away for the holidays. Our purported 4 star hotel, La Ciliegina had to be accessed up some dark and dingy lift shaft in a side street block of flats; everywhere we ventured in this crowded rowdy city was doused with layer upon layer of graffiti (even their most sacred palaces and churches) and a most unwelcome rain shower meant that the darkest most intimidating of Naples’ unfriendly looking cobbled streets took on an even more sinister guise, not helped by the shuttered (graffitied) shops and the eery lack of visitors. And all the time our ears were ringing with the forewarnings which had been consistently delivered at every mention of a visit to the city: beware pickpockets, muggers, criminal gangs. Gosh, we had even left our wallets locked away in the hotel safe for fear of attack!

But come the following morning when the sunshine washed its warming radiance across the city, suddenly Naples was a different place. Walking up to the hotel rooftop and seeing the dazzling spectacle of mount Vesuvius, its slopes partially shrouded in mist like some ancient Japanese silk painting, and its grand peaks rising up into the blue sky at the end of the wide sweeping bay of Naples, was like a postcard dream straight out of the summer. Filled with a new sense of excited anticipation, we headed out into Naples to reacquaint ourselves with the city afresh.

It’s so true what people say: the sun changes everything, and the Naples we found that morning was no longer a dingy den of backstreets but an elegant city of faded grandeur, with its stunning shopping arcade straight out of the Belle Époque (the Galleria Umberto I) and its vast semi circular Piazza Plebiscito nestled between the Basilica di San Francesco and the old palace dating back to Bourbon rule.

But with the weather so good, we were not about to hang around in the city centre. Rather, after so many months separation, there was only one thing we wanted to embrace that sunny morning – the sea. And so heading down the pine tree lined Via Cesario Condole, our nostrils filling progressively with the light salty perfume of the sea, we soon encountered an even more spectacular view of Vesuvius – with the sparkling sun-drenched waters of the Mediterranean sea lapping up against its feet.

And so began possibly our favourite day of the whole Italy holiday, as we got to know the seafront of Naples with its small marinas, two castles and lines of elegant hotels all under the warmth of a very welcome winter sun.

After a quick stroll around the Castel Nuovo, we headed down to the much prettier Castel dell’Ovo, which juts out to sea at one end of the bay of Naples, and encircles in its embrace a little marina. That delightful situation became the sight of an hour or so of enthusiastic photography (see tomorrow’s post) and a divine coffee by the waterside. We also trekked around the vast castle walls from where views of Vesuvius to the south and Naples’ urban sprawl to the North were better than ever. And in the latter vantage, we set our eyes upon a rather welcoming looking seaside cafe and headed straight there for a well earned lunch.

The Castel Nuovo

and the Castel dell’Ovo and its marina

What does one eat in Naples? Well pizza of course, and I ate my first with this spectacular seaside view before me. I have to say, Neapolitan pizzas were a little stodgier than I was expecting, but then I am used to the crispier bases which I gather may be a bastardisation of the north. There was no denying taste or flavour though – covered with a rich pesto, my pizza tasted as good as it looked, helped down by a very chilled and very summery glass of white wine.

Natale Italiano | Rome – A photographic miscellany

For a city whose every street and structure is punctuated with elaborate statues, architectural flourishes and ancient ruins, Rome is never short on providing photographers and artists alike with ripe inspiration to get their artistic juices flowing. And while passing the Christmas season in Rome meant that I was perhaps not as prolific in the photography stakes as I might otherwise have been, I still look upon this little miscellany of Rome shots which I collected together during that recent trip.

These photos do not aim to expose the most commonplace tourist spots of Rome in all of their magnificent glory, but aims instead to focus in on the smaller details which make those places great, or which might otherwise be missed by the visitor in that moment of complete overwhelming shock at the brilliance of the sights before them. For example, when you are faced with the magnificent Trevi Fountain, you tend to concentrate on the whole flowing mass of this mammoth fountain which appears collectively like a living grotto literally metamorphing from the façade of a baroque palace. However one often misses the fine details of the many sculptures which form the whole, something which these photos attempt to rectify. Likewise my photos of the pantheon concentrate not so much on the brilliant whole, but on the details of the iron door and that incredible roof.

Also amongst these shots are the small features of Rome which make the city such a joy to explore – the cobbled pavements whose monotony is crossed with sunshine and shadows; jazz bands playing upbeat tunes in the Piazza della Rotunda; yellow ochre roman ruins in and around the Forum; and the little birds whose visit to sidewalk cafes is always a pleasure to bestow.

I give you Rome – in photos.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jan 23

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Natale Italiano | Rome – Day 3: The Mastery of Bernini

Boxing day was officially renamed “Bernini Day” on 26th December of last year, as we set about discovering the works of this genius which literally pepper the city of Rome with as much generosity as London is filled with red telephone boxes. Starting off with coffee opposite our beloved Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotunda, we only had to walk mere metres past the stunning Roman Temple to the Piazza della Minerva to see Bernini’s rather grand elephant sculpture, showing very little of the strain of the ancient Egyptian obelisk which it carries on its back. Meanwhile, a short walk to the West of the Pantheon took us to the even more spectacular Piazza Navona, where of course that incredible Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) by Bernini lords magnificently over the centre of the not so square Square. That incredible gushing fountain, which appears to bring the gods of the rivers to life before one’s very eyes, also carries at its centre an ancient obelisk, albeit that this time the obelisk is far grander, and one of the most impressible of the 13 major obelisks featured in Rome’s most prominent piazzas (although I understand that this once hails from ancient Rome, rather than ancient Egypt).

Minerva and Navona – two sights of Bernini’s mastery with marble

All this Bernini sightseeing had given us a taste for something a little more appetising to set our sights upon, and the proximity of the bustling Campo de’ Fiore meant lunch was not far at hand. The Campo, which translates as “field of flowers” is one of my favourite spots in Rome, particularly in the warmer weather when the encircling buildings are soaked with sunshine, and in the square below, market stalls selling the freshest produce and flowers burst into life. On this Boxing (sorry, Bernini) Day, the Campo was relatively quiet, but its restaurants happily open for business – the crispy Pizza with speck and zucchini which followed our entry into one such establishment was truly a delight worthy of this food-lover’s paradise.

Back to business in the afternoon, and after a sad farewell to my partner’s dearest Mama, we took advantage of the last dying hours of Roman light to make a visit to another of Bernini’s renowned masterpieces, The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa, contained within the Cornaro chapel of the Santa Maria della Vittoria. This stunning sculpture, which appears to show the figures of St Teresa and an angel floating on clouds made of marble, depicts an episode in the life of Teresa of Avila, a mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite nun, who described a visitation by an angel who appeared to stab her with a golden spear filling her with the pain and ecstasy of god’s love. Lit from above by a little hidden window which reflects off the gilded stucco rays behind the sculptures, this work is truly a masterpiece of Bernini’s oeuvre, and perhaps the most theatrical of all his works.

For our final foray into the masterpieces of this genius of marble, we went to see Bernini’s mastery, not over sculpture, but over architecture. Yes, after a final Roman dinner in the atmospheric Ristorante Babette in the Via Margutta, we headed to a place whose structure is indebted to the genius of Bernini – St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This central seat of Catholicism revels in the theatre of religious power and position, and for any visitor walking along the Via della Conciliazione towards St Peter’s imposing façade, there can be no doubting the monumental aspect of this approach. However, surely the most imposing and dramatic feature is the huge colonnaded piazza in front of St Peter’s, a piazza which provides ample space for all the visiting faithful, and further underlines the scale and magnitude of this centre of the Catholic Church. And who was responsible for the architectural design of the palazzo with its vast double rowed colonnades? Why Bernini, of course.

Nighttime walk to Vatican City

And with that monumental encounter with one of Bernini’s final masterpieces, we ended our last full day in the magnificent city of Rome, a city which provided us with such a rich festive experience, and whose streets and squares continued to buzz, despite the passing of the Christmas season. The following day, we would pack up our bags (and my little pop up Christmas tree) once again, and head further South – to Napoli.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.