bobbycaputo:

Stunning Photos of Cities Without Light Pollution

There are many advantages to city life, from conveniences like 24-hour delis and reliable public transportation to all of the culture that’s right at our fingertips. But there’s one thing that’s sadly missing from our lives: starry skies. In Thierry Cohen‘s thought provoking series Darkened Cities, which we spotted thanks to Visual News, we get to see what various cityscapes worldwide would look like minus all of the light pollution. The Paris-based photographer’s work is very precise; the skies that he superimposes into his photos are taken from locations that are situated on precisely the same latitude as the original cities, and shot at the same angle. The resulting images are beautiful, but there’s something apocalyptic about them too — especially shots of New York City, which recall photos of Lower Manhattan in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

(Via. Flavorwire)

(via ions-anions-and-cations)

Source: flavorwire.com

epicleicaness:

Parisian Streets, Pt. 1.

Stores close early in Paris, compared to Dubai that is. Things here stay open till 10 on weekdays and 12 on weekends. There, most of the stores close between 5 and 7 pm. 

Paris has beautiful lighting. The city doesn’t have a lot of light pollution, not as much as Dubai, but it utilizes the lights in a beautiful manner. It’s subtle, without being heavy. They know how to turn the lights into romance. Everything is beautiful. 

It’s very refreshing to see these. 

I love Dubai. Dubai is my home, but Paris is just more beautiful than this place, and after seeing Dubai for 27 years, it’s so refreshing to see something new. Something old and historic and rustic. 

Paris, je t’aime.

New Thesis

epicleicaness:

Yesterday in the shower, it hit me: a new thesis for grad school. The idea plays off the photography I did in Paris, and this particular post.

I put down some thoughts yesterday:

When I was in Paris, I realized that I didn’t do a lot of street photography, and instead, did a lot of urban city landscapes. I liked the empty streets of Paris. Considering the amount of tourists that go through the city every day, in addition to the population, I found it very interesting to look at when it’s empty. It’s rarely empty. Even late at night, there is still action going on. Even at 5 am, someone is in the street. To shoot empty Parisian streets isolates the city and frames the urban landscape without the steps of people. I felt the real architecture of the city come to life.

I love the way the square format frames the city, So I decided to shoot it with my Hasselblad. . I’d be taking a picture of the area in colour to show the area. I’d also take a picture in black and white to better show the concentration of people in that area. The more people there are, the brighter the image will be. It keeps getting brighter, till it’s so bright that you lose info as a viewer. This is similar to having a lot of people pass through a place. A large number of people passing through a space will visually block your view of a certain area, like a store front masked with the silhouette of people passing by. You’ll only be able to see the place from the spaces between the people, or the tops of their heads. The less people there are, the darker the image will be, until its completely blackened.

The pictures in Paris are a result of hundreds of years of existence, where the city was around, and people interacted with those locations. It’s like capturing a moment in time that had hundreds of years to prepare for it. The events in Syria are happening right now, and I’d be documenting the moment post climax, offering itself as a study on the footprint of people in a given place, especially after the protests and the revolution are done. The difference between Paris and Syria is one of time, documenting it will tell a story on a much bigger scale. 


I’m gonna start taking some test shots here. I’m gonna try to do the same place, once during the day (or heavy traffic hour) and once late at night when it’s empty. I’m gonna do some street photography as well to support this work. 

Here are a couple of images I found that I took that show the same place, but at different times.

(via epicleicaness)

Père Lachaise Cemetery

This place was gorgeous. I’m not used to elaborate cemeteries, as in Islam graves are only meant to be marked with headstones, and nothing more. The more simple, the better it was in the eyes of God.

So this place was an incredible visual treat. 

The cemetery was home toa a lot of celebrities in French culture, and it’s most famous site is Jim Morrison’s grave. That was the main reason I went there with my friend. 

We did spend more time walking around the place looking at graves than we did looking at Morrison’s grave. 

There’s this feeling of awe when you’re walking in a cemetery. We were whispering while we were there, and we didn’t even realize it. I actually commented to my friend that we are whispering. I guess it was more out of respect than anything else. 

Cemeteries are beautiful things. 

Arc de Triomphe, The Arch of Victory. 

Arc de Triomphe was build to honour those who fought and died during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Underneath the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

As beautiful as the monument is, it’s pretty bland during the day when compared to how it is at night. Again, that fabulous Parisian lighting comes into play. 

An interesting fact: it’s against the law to take pictures of the Arc de Triomphe with a tripod. I got stopped by the police, but not before I got the photos above. 

The Arc sits on a roundabout, surrounded by streets that lead you everywhere in Paris. You take a tunnel to get to it. Once there, you can walk around, and go into the monument. This was at midnight, and the site was closed. My friend and I sat underneath while I took these pictures. 

Hasselblad 500C Portra 160.

epicleicaness:

Parisian Streets, Pt. 1.

Stores close early in Paris, compared to Dubai that is. Things here stay open till 10 on weekdays and 12 on weekends. There, most of the stores close between 5 and 7 pm. 

Paris has beautiful lighting. The city doesn’t have a lot of light pollution, not as much as Dubai, but it utilizes the lights in a beautiful manner. It’s subtle, without being heavy. They know how to turn the lights into romance. Everything is beautiful. 

It’s very refreshing to see these. 

I love Dubai. Dubai is my home, but Paris is just more beautiful than this place, and after seeing Dubai for 27 years, it’s so refreshing to see something new. Something old and historic and rustic. 

Paris, je t’aime.