Comments on: Vive la France http://struangray.com/twiglog/2009/06/09/vive-la-france/ A glance leaves an imprint on anything it's dwelt on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:33:17 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: struan http://struangray.com/twiglog/2009/06/09/vive-la-france/comment-page-1/#comment-218 struan Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:37:12 +0000 http://struangray.com/twiglog/?p=307#comment-218 What I love is the juxtapositions and complexity returned by quite innocent search terms entered in the free text box. You don't, for example, just get Riviere's views of the Eiffel Tower, but also his cyanotypes of his wife, photos of him by others, an odd bit of metalwork, and a host of miscellaneous items which happened to have his first and last names somewhere in the metadata. 'Usine' (factory) turned up a fascinating mix of media and styles. It also made it clear just how derivative much photography was and is, and how good the good photographers really are. Did you know Nadar took photos of mining railways? Perhaps it's common knowledge, but not to me. I can control my book lust online, but I rarely emerge unscathed from a secondhand bookshop. I guess that makes me a hands-on reader. What I love is the juxtapositions and complexity returned by quite innocent search terms entered in the free text box. You don’t, for example, just get Riviere’s views of the Eiffel Tower, but also his cyanotypes of his wife, photos of him by others, an odd bit of metalwork, and a host of miscellaneous items which happened to have his first and last names somewhere in the metadata.

‘Usine’ (factory) turned up a fascinating mix of media and styles. It also made it clear just how derivative much photography was and is, and how good the good photographers really are. Did you know Nadar took photos of mining railways? Perhaps it’s common knowledge, but not to me.

I can control my book lust online, but I rarely emerge unscathed from a secondhand bookshop. I guess that makes me a hands-on reader.

]]> By: Mike Chisholm http://struangray.com/twiglog/2009/06/09/vive-la-france/comment-page-1/#comment-217 Mike Chisholm Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:04:35 +0000 http://struangray.com/twiglog/?p=307#comment-217 Oh, Struan, Struan... How could you? I started by entering "Henri Riviere" and the evening was gone. I must admit I had similarly conflicted feelings when I first started turning people on to abebooks (or the Advanced Book Exchange, as it originally was) -- it's not my fault if someone can't control their book-buying habits... Thanks (I think), Mike Oh, Struan, Struan… How could you? I started by entering “Henri Riviere” and the evening was gone.

I must admit I had similarly conflicted feelings when I first started turning people on to abebooks (or the Advanced Book Exchange, as it originally was) — it’s not my fault if someone can’t control their book-buying habits…

Thanks (I think),

Mike

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