Crowded bathing pool at the foot of a limestone quarry with children in the water and graffiti on the rock face, Canon AE1 Program 50mm, Nantes

Jardin Extraordinaire: This Time I Actually Looked at the Map

I headed back out with the Canon AE1 Program to capture more of the Voyage à Nantes, this time at the Jardin Extraordinaire—a hidden garden carved into an abandoned quarry. With the car at 48°C, it was sweltering, but the wandering through Chantenay and an unplanned brewery visit made the day worth every frame.

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Théo Mercier's Fossil Opera — sand ammonites and half-buried cars before the Opéra Graslin colonnade, Nantes

Voyage à Nantes: Following the Green Line

It was 46°C in the car when I set off and 40°C by the time I reached Place Graslin, which is not the weather for walking a city. But Le Voyage à Nantes paints a green line through the streets and I wanted to follow it, at least as far as I could manage without melting. The AE1, a roll of HP5+ rated at 100, and whatever the evening put in front of me.

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Wooden crate of courges on a Clisson market stall, black and white film, Nikon FE with Kodak Tri-X 400

A Fan Letter to Monochromia

There’s a photography blog I keep coming back to, and I want to tell you about it. Monochromia is a collective — photographers from Chicago, Nuremberg, Rome, Washington D.C., and a village on the Nile, all posting one black and white image at a time with barely a word of explanation. I contribute the occasional shot from France, which makes me biased. It also makes me a better photographer.

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Woman with crutches standing beneath the inverted glass pyramid of the Carrousel du Louvre, Fujifilm XT2, Paris 2020

A Day in Paris with My Daughter: The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and 127 Floors

A day trip to Paris with my daughter Kate in July 2020 — the Louvre, the Pyramide Inversée, and more steps than anticipated. Shot on Fujifilm XT2. Republished six years on.

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Iron mooring ring set in granite quayside stone with shadow, Montjean-sur-Loire, Canon 6D Mark II 70-300mm

Montjean-sur-Loire — The Wrong Road, the Right Place

I had no plan, no destination — just a car, a camera, and an afternoon to fill. I missed the bridge at Ancenis, ended up on the wrong road, and somehow landed at Montjean-sur-Loire with a river wider than I’d ever seen. The Canon 6D Mark II and I made the best of it.

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Twin towers of Basilique Saint-Donatien lit deep red against black night sky above Nantes street, Fujifilm X100F 23mm

Saints, Shadows and Brass: An Evening at the Festival Saint Donatien

A Friday in May, a Facebook message from an old friend, and a brass quintet about to perform at the Festival Saint Donatien in the Basilique Saint-Donatien, Nantes. I took the Fujifilm X100F, arrived early to hunt for light in the old stone streets around the basilica, and ended up inside one of the most atmospheric concerts I have attended in years.

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Stone cross on Pont Saint-Antoine with Château de Clisson in background, cobblestone bridge leading to medieval towers, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm

Clisson — A Guilty Pleasure

Clisson on a warm Wednesday in May. The medieval château, the weirs on the Sèvre Nantaise, the old stone bridge with its cross. A familiar town — but this time the film bag stayed at home. Instead: the Canon 6D Mark II, a 16–35mm, a 24–70mm, a 70–300mm, and the nagging question of whether producing this many good images this easily is something to be proud of.

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Black and white film photograph of crowds on the quarry rock pool at the Jardin Extraordinaire, Nantes, on a sunny April afternoon.

On Est Bien Là: Back at the Jardin Extraordinaire

A warm Sunday in April, a Canon EOS 500, and a roll of AGFA APX 100 at Nantes’ Jardin Extraordinaire. Film photography, slow days, and why it’s nice to be out in it.

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Black and white photograph of a Nantes café window with the handwritten French phrase "On ne peut pas acheter le bonheur mais on peut acheter du bon vin" — you can't buy happiness but you can buy good wine.

YOU CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS, BUT…

“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy good wine.” A philosophical photo essay exploring what Nantes, France teaches us about the good life—beauty as democracy, the right to solitude, and pleasure as infrastructure. Discover how black and white street photography reveals the architecture of everyday happiness in one of Europe’s most livable cities.

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