Monday 19 December 2011

Libya Girl

Usb FFotos 005 by Gribers
Usb FFotos 005, a photo by Gribers on Flickr.

I took this photo in February 2011, who would of known that within the calendar year, we would see a regime change in Libya and the end of Gaddafi. I also submitted this shot to National Geographic where it was featured in their shot of the day section.

www.ngm.nationalgeographic.com/myshot/

Sunday 4 December 2011

Dublin Protest 2 Sat 26 Nov 193

Congolese protest in Dublin Saturday November 26. Some photos of people from the Congolese community in Ireland marching to highlight the General Election taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and showing support for the opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi.

Monday 28 November 2011

Shakespeare + Company Book Shop Paris

shakespeareandcompany.com


What a delightful bookshop this really is. It's a gem of a store located at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, Paris, and is open 10am to 11pm, seven days a week. This is the second incarnation of this store. Back in 1919 Sylvia Beach opened the original store and it became a place for English speaking writers to hang and spend their time. The likes of Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and F Scott Fitzgerald spent lots of time here. Sylvia famously published Ulysses in 1922 which was then banned in the UK and the USA. Hemingway mentioned the store in his memoir A Moveable Feast.
The store was closed in 1940 during the Nazi occupation.
The current bookshop was opened by the american George Whitman in 1951. The new store was frequented by many English writers especially from the Beat generation, like Burroughs Ginsberg and Corso. Their are 14 beds where people can spend the night, if they help out in the shop for two hours a day and also read a book a day. Not a bad deal. George's daughter Sylvia Beach Whitman currently runs the store and continues to let young writers to live and work in the shop. She has also started a literary festival, writer's meetings and poetry readings. I was lucky when i stopped by to catch the Pulitzer winning author Paul Harding read excerpts from his novel Tinkers.
The bookstore still has lots of charm, and has a treasure trove of books within. I can't wait to return. It also recently featured in the Woody Allen film Midnight In Paris.
http://www.minuit-a-paris.com/

http://www.sonyclassics.com/midnightinparis/

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/paris




Congolese Democracy Protest 1 Sat 26 Nov Dublin 513

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Paris day 1 080

Paris day 1 080 by Gribers
Paris day 1 080, a photo by Gribers on Flickr.

An Artist's studio in Paris.
I was walking past the studio and the artist kindly allowed me to take some fotos inside his studio. He had no english and i had very basic french, however we both seemed to understand each other a little. He seemed quite pleased with his painting and had no problem with me taking some fotos.