interviewing LadyJaneLane

Here’s my latest work in collaboration with Jean-Luc Dupont on LadyJaneLane‘s exposé of the ‘Madame Grès, la couture à l’oeuvre‘ exhibition in Paris.
Tell me what you think?

POP.SIN Ep 1. Ladyjanelane from christopher duncan on Vimeo.

wing mirrors

I recently spent some time at the Paris Retromobile exhibition, with the team from The National Motor Museum @Beaulieu_Hants. There were some magnificent cars there, but all had been photographed so many times I wanted to find a new approach. This year’s theme was based on the colourful automobiles of the 70’s and they were gleaming from the work of an army of polishers from Meguiar’s. So armed with my trusty Hipstamatic I decided to go “pop” and based my work around the wing mirror.

A special thanks to The National Motor Museum @Beaulieu_Hants, if you are in the south of england it’s definitely a place to visit, and to the team of polishers from Meguiar’s  @Meguiars without whose work these images would not have been possible. Just look at this : 

 Talbot-Lago Super Sport T150C that won the Louis Vuitton classic award.

I’m on The Fashionisto !

I’m on The Fashionisto ! Well not me, somebody much prettier, but my work …

Special thanks to l’Atelier Maurice Arnoult and Isabel André for opening the doors of this magic place where a new generation of women bootmakers has grown since 2005 in close collaboration with Maurice Arnoult, the most renowned parisian bootmaker. A place where traditional art of shoemaking craft and creativity merge.

Let’s go bananas !

Happy New Year everybody. yes let’s go bananas in 2011, have fun, spread a little happiness around!

in case you haven’t made the connection (or are too young to know) between the image and “bananas” it’s a photograph I took of a collage of josephine baker, famous for her banana costumes. it can be found in the robert brady museum in cuernavaca, mexico which is well worth visiting.

here’s another local cuernavaca sight, just to remind us that summer is just around the corner.

place des vosges, paris goes back in time

I love roaming around Paris because you never know what you will find.

On my way from the Bastille I took a short cut through the gardens of the Hôtel de Sully

The door you see on the right leads you directly into La Place des Vosges. As I went through I was suddenly transported back in time, for look what I saw on the other side :

there were old Citroën DS cars revving up everywhere. Had I run into a rally? no just Hollywood….They were making an “epoch” film, so I put my trusty Olympus pen into video mode and this is what I saw……

The two characters who swop notes in the archway are actually standing in front of the famous ‘L’Ambroisie‘ 3 star restaurant

Douglas and ominous clouds. a view from ‘the beach house’

my secret retreat in England is ‘the beach house’ at the end of warren lane deep in the heart of hampshire.

Here’s the view from the deck. Douglas the springer is in the foreground and the Isle of Wight makes the backdrop.

notice the little schooner going by on the horizon, almost like a painting. (ph. © wade h grimbly 2010)

the gatekeeper

Did you know that The Gatekeeper was a butterfly? The garden seems full of them today, also known as the Hedge Brown (Pyronia tithonus)

look closely this one (below) has damaged it’s wing but that doesn’t stop it flying on this windy summer’s day.

artichokes (Cynara scolymus)

great to eat but also marvelous to admire these are the smaller ‘artichaud’ violet de provence, which were allowed to escape the kitchen this year in order to display their fine feathery violet flower in a shade not unfamiliar to yves saint laurent

computer says “no”

The Barclay card saga.”computer says No”

I rarely blog text but here’s a follow-up from my ‘tweet’ about my anger with Barclays bank for ‘retaining’ my debit card.

Several years ago I opened up a ‘savings’ account with Barclays, I thought it was a useful way of having some cash in the U.K. for the frequent trips I make to these isles. Like any account I can put money in whenever I wish but there’s no cheque book so when I need to make a withdrawal I use the debit card they kindly provided so that I can serve myself and they can employ less staff.

On this trip I’d brought a couple of sterling cheques I’d acquired, so I popped down to the local Barclays branch to put them in my account. The cashier took my card to note my details, tapped it all in to the computer, rubber stamped the cheques and gave back the card along with a receipt. Having just alighted from the Eurostar my pockets were still full of euros so on leaving the bank I went to the hole in the wall to get some great british pounds. Put the card in the machine which asked for a pin number, gave the pin number and next question ‘how much do you want?’ I tapped in the required amount, “would you like a receipt?” I pressed the Yes button. I stood waiting for the notes to appear when suddenly for a full five seconds, and you had to be quick to see it in the blazing sunlight, a message came up saying <your card has been retained> “It’s retained my card” I said in disbelief to the man behind me in the orderly queue that had now formed. “Get in there quick mate” he said pointing to the bank door “before they close!”

I returned to the same cashier who had served me just five minutes ago and explained the situation. “What’s your card number?” she said, “ I don’t know” I replied, “but it’s on the card in your machine.” “Oh we can’t open that” she said, “you’ll have to go home and find your details.”

”But you’ve already got them” I replied “I made a deposit just a few minutes ago. Go into the computer history and check them!” She made a face and then turned to her keyboard, punched a few keys and then turned back nonchalantly and said, “Oh it’s normal, your card has been cancelled.”

”Why’s that?” I screamed “it’s valid until November.” She turned  back to her screen and tapped away again, after a short lapse she turned back and said “computer says <Insufficient use>.”

“INSUFFICIENT USE” I screamed, doing my best Fawlty Towers number, “there’s nothing in my contract that says I have to use it every day, week, month. It’s valid until November when it should be renewed automatically.” “I’m sorry” said the cashier while beckoning forward the next customer, “you will have to contact customer services.”

Back home I contact customer services. A man replies, I give him all the details and he says “before I can process your case I need to ask you some security questions.” “Go ahead!” I say. “Whats your date of birth?” I give him that, “What’s your mother’s maiden name?” I give him that. There’s a silence so I launch into the “why has my card been retained” schpiel, “I’m sorry sir” he interrupts, “you’ve answered the questions wrong I cant continue this conversation”

“No I have not” I shrill, “I know my date of birth, I know my mother’s maiden name for god’s sake.”

“Well, those are not the answers I have here, you will have to go see your bank manager, prove your identity and continue from there. Good night sir.”

So the next day I have to make a half-day trip to town where I opened the account.

As I get to the top of the escalator I see a lady waiting to greet me, she’s like a traffic cop directing you to different lanes, I explain my case, she writes down my name, tells me to sit over there and someone will call me.

I just have time to read all the various leaflets scattered about on the different accounts, life insurance etc. you can have when a young girl come to usher me into her tiny open space. We sit facing each other with only the computer between us and I explain again my story. She taps on the computer… “Yes” she says, “Computer cancelled your card because you haven’t used it for several months”

“Why?” I patiently ask.

“Well, if you don’t use your card for a certain time computer assumes that you’ve lost it and so cancels it. It’s for your own safety” she adds with one of those smiles.

“Why didn’t computer send me a self generated letter to ask if I had indeed lost my card?” I ask.

“Oh we have to be cost conscience” came back the reply.

“So you’re not going to reimburse my loss of time and train fare then I gather?”

She ignored that, apologized for any inconvenience and said “You will receive a new card within the next five days, and this time you must use it more” she adds “spend more!”

“But it’s a savings account” I point out.

“and you could have contacted our customer service, that would have saved you the trip.” she continues ignoring my previous point.

I explain the bit about the security questions, she taps on the computer keyboard, “What’s your date of birth?”

I give her that.

“Place of birth?”

“Chelmsford”

“That’s right” she replies “and your mother’s maiden name?”

I give her that.

“No” she says, “computer says No”…….

un pont à paris, a nightingale, 4th of july

©wade h.grimbly