Author: Stanley

Categories
Biography and autobiography

Biography : L’homme en mouvement.

L'homme en mouvement, de l'auteur Patrick Straumann.
L’homme en mouvement, de l’auteur Patrick Straumann.

A biography generally tells the story of a person who has made an impact on his or her environment and society. Why, then, take the time to write a book about the existence of a completely unknown individual, who passes through life like a ghost?

Paul Reichstein, “l’homme en mouvement (the man in motion)”, is the enigmatic great-uncle of the author, journalist Patrick Straumann. The latter has carried out an extensive research to find out more about this “black sheep” of the family.

Why “black sheep”? Because Paul was born into a talented family, one of whose brothers, Tadeus (nicknamed Tajik), even won the Nobel Prize in collaboration with two Americans for having succeeded in isolating cortisone. His other brothers all went on to earn degrees that launched them into life. Except Paul, who is interested in everything, but quickly tires of one subject or one place.

Paul was born in Kiev in 1905 and spent his youth in Switzerland, specifically Zurich. He went everywhere, but only briefly. We find him in Russia, where he witnessed the return of the survivors of the Chelyuskin icebreaker . He worked in a tractor factory during the Stalin era and also became a mountaineering instructor where he climbed very high mountains for the glory of the Stalinist regime. (See also “Les alpinistes de Staline” on my blog).

He also joined the US Navy as a soldier. He managed to be expelled twice from Switzerland, did a stint in prison, sailed the Pacific Ocean working for the merchant navy, sold land and cabins in Anchorage, Alaska, and worked for several months in a mine in Chile, before making a detour to Australia.

He was hospitalized for accidents in Rochester, Oakland and Yokohama. We also follow him to San Francisco, Baltimore, Palm Springs, the banks of the Volga, Pusan, Seoul, China and the Philippines.

He died in 1995 and, having outlived all his brothers, there were only a dozen people at his funeral who didn’t know what to say about this elusive “man in motion”.

In 140 pages, the author succeeds in painting a generous, non-judgmental portrait of this great-uncle. Paul’s troubles and wanderings make this man very endearing.

Click on the link for more biographies on my blog.

Title: L’homme en mouvement

Author: Patrick Straumann

Publisher: Chandeigne, © 2024

ISBN: 978-2-36732-279-7

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Rue Dauphine in autumn in Old Quebec.

A photo of Quebec City with winter approaching.
A photo of Quebec City with winter approaching.

For this photo of rue Dauphine in Old Quebec, I chose a period when everything changes rapidly. The blue hour still allows us to make out the most significant details of this night photography session. Winter is just around the corner and the rain showers, momentarily halted, are trying to erase the snow that now lingers on the ground in early December.

The freshly fallen rain reflects the light from the streetlamps on rue Dauphine and from the windows of the former church, now the Maison de la littérature.

This kind of photo can only be taken with frequent visits to the old town, in all seasons and weather conditions. The photographer’s eye immediately catches sight of a scene around a bend in the road that needs to be captured.

Click on the link for more autumn photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The “rue du Trésor” in Old Quebec.

Being watched in rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024
Being watched in rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024

On an evening when isolated showers were continually changing the atmosphere in Quebec City, I visited the old part of the town, especially “rue du Trésor”. Today’s article features four photos of the same street captured from different angles. About three hours separates the shots.

Above, passers-by seem to be followed by an individual. I’ve maximized the effect of tension by taking advantage of a moment when the tourists in the background are in the light and the lone walker remains in shadow. To accentuate the discomfort, I opted for a cold tone and undersaturation in post-processing.

Below, two young people chat quietly at the entrance to rue du Trésor, while pedestrians go about their business. The tiles have had time to dry out a little since the last shower.

Conversation near rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024
Conversation near rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024

The photo is legal in Quebec because it’s not just about the two persons in the foreground. There’s a street setting where other passers-by are also present. This is always a factor to consider when publishing for non-commercial use. If the couple is alone in the scene and it’s a close-up, I can capture the scene, but under Quebec law, I don’t publish. For added precaution, it is sometimes better to wait a while between the moment the photo is taken and its distribution. Finally, I make sure that people are not portrayed in such a way as to damage their reputation. So, there are always multiple factors to consider before a photo is taken and distributed.

Reflections after the rain in the rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024
Reflections after the rain in the rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024

Above, a couple takes a walk immediately after a rain shower. I set up the camera a few inches off the ground, in front of a puddle to get a reflection.

The goal of the picture is the water reflection but, since I want to publish the photo, I have to think about the persons. The couple becomes possibly the main subject for some viewers. Using added precaution, I put an artificial obstacle in front of the man’s eyes to make him less recognizable. As for the woman, her head turned to one side makes identification impossible.

Below is a view of the Rue du Trésor during the “blue hour,” after the showers. The last tourists take the opportunity to choose a piece of art before the shopkeepers leave.

Rue du Trésor in evening in Old Quebec, 2024
Rue du Trésor in evening in Old Quebec, 2024

Click on the link for reference books about photography in Canada and Quebec on my blog. Also use the following link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in summer on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Autumn on Île d’Orléans.

Île d'Orléans in Autumn 2024.
Île d’Orléans in Autumn 2024.

Here’s a photo taken late autumn on Île d’Orléans. The sun shines through the cumuliform clouds, helping to create interesting contrasts of light and shadow on the mountains in the background. Towards noon, the more direct sunshine dissipates these clouds, and late in the afternoon, the new-found coolness helps to form a uniform stratocumulus ceiling over the region. The photo was taken around 10 am, at a time when there is still a mixture of clear skies and clouds, making the photo more dynamic.

Click on the link for more autumn photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Cruise ship and Château Frontenac Autumn 2024.

Cruise ship and Château Frontenac in Autumn 2024
Cruise ship and Château Frontenac in Autumn 2024

Above, a photo of the Château Frontenac in autumn with a cruise ship that has just docked at the Port of Québec. The photo was taken from Île d’Orléans. Also visible in the center of the photo is the Concorde Hotel’s revolving restaurant, “Ciel! Resto-bar”.  

Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The Battlefields Park in autumn.

The Battlefields Park in Quebec City in Autumn.
The Battlefields Park in Quebec City in Autumn.

The photo shows the Battlefields Park in early autumn, as the trees begin to change color. In the distance on the right is the revolving restaurant “Ciel! Bistro-bar” and, on the left, the turret of Saint-Dominique church.

Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in autumn on my blog.

Categories
Flight Simulation

Around the world in flight simulation (10).

Leg 10 of this round-the-world flight simulation trip takes place between Poland and Germany. Two very different aircraft will be used to complete the journey during this day of VFR flying: an old Junkers Ju 52/3m and a modern business helicopter, the Airbus H160.

Junkers JU 52 airborne from the Lublin airport (EPLB) in Poland.
Junkers JU 52 airborne from the Lublin airport (EPLB) in Poland.

Departure is from Lublin airport (EPLB) in Poland. The Junkers Ju 52/3m takes off without a hitch over a short distance. The big three-engine tailwheel is as predictable as the Cessna C-170B I used in real life to cross Canada in 1981. Above, one can see the cultivated fields of Poland.

Junkers JU 52 and the Moritzburg Castle in Germany in flight simulation
Junkers JU 52 and the Moritzburg Castle in Germany in flight simulation

It’s shaping up to be a beautiful morning, weather-wise. The first leg of the trip takes us over Moritzburg Castle (Schloss Moritzburg), northwest of Dresden. Built in 1542, it was originally the hunting lodge of the Duke of Saxony.

Junkers JU 52 enroute to the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle in Germany
Junkers JU 52 enroute to the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle in Germany

On the way to Halle is a large wind farm. Germany, like Europe, is rapidly developing its green energy. Russia’s recent attitude to Europe’s natural gas supply has drastically changed energy planning in neighboring countries.

A Junkers JU 52 flying over the State Museum of Prehistory Halle in Germany in flight simulation
A Junkers JU 52 flying over the State Museum of Prehistory Halle in Germany in flight simulation

Above, in the center of the photo, is a partial view of the National Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle), not far from Leipzig. It is one of Central Europe’s leading archaeological museums.

Fly-by of the Kyffhaüser-Denkmal in Germany by a Junkers Ju 52 in flight simulation
Fly-by of the Kyffhaüser-Denkmal in Germany by a Junkers Ju 52 in flight simulation

Before reaching Calden airport to change aircraft, we gaze at the Kyffhaüser monument (Kyffhaüser Denkmal). Once in Calden, we jump into a modern Airbus-built H160 helicopter and head for Göttingen, more precisely over the Münchhausenstrasse.

We’ve obtained permission to fly over this thoroughfare at very low altitude, just long enough to say hello to an old acquaintance. This dubious authorization will probably cost Germany’s Minister of Transport his job.

Streets of Göttingen, Germany, in flight simulation
Streets of Göttingen, Germany, in flight simulation

A flyover of this Göttingen street is necessary to verify the extent of the traffic.

Helicopter descending on Münchhausenstrasse, Göttingen, Germany, in flight simulation.
Helicopter descending on Münchhausenstrasse, Göttingen, Germany, in flight simulation.

The descent is gradual between the buildings. We hover just above the cars. Pedestrians seem to wave at us, but we may misinterpret the gesture. Our friend is at the window and takes the time to stop his reading of an excellent comic strip to wave at us. We then continue on our way to Padderborn Lippstadt Airport (EDLP), our destination for today.

Helicopter H160 landing at the Padderborn Lippstadt (EDLP) in Germany in flight simulation.
Helicopter H160 landing at the Padderborn Lippstadt (EDLP) in Germany in flight simulation.

Still, there’s a fair amount of activity at the airport. Immediately after landing, we’ll start planning leg 11 of this round-the-world flight simulation and real weather trip.

Click on the link for more flight simulator flights around the world on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Autumn colours on île d’Orléans.

Autumn colours on île d'Orléans, 2024
Autumn colours on île d’Orléans, 2024

This photo was taken in autumn from the wooden tower at the eastern end of Île d’Orléans. Late in the season, there are fewer leaves left on the trees, but the sun hitting the vegetation from the side breathes new life into the landscape.

Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in autumn on my blog.

Categories
Graphic novels and comics

Graphic novel : Deux filles nues.

Graphic novel "Deux filles nues" by Luz edited by Albin Michel.
Graphic novel “Deux filles nues” by Luz edited by Albin Michel.

German painter Otto Mueller created the painting “Deux filles nues (Two nude girls)” in 1919. Through an artwork which survived turbulent times, the reader follows a changing Germany. He also gets to know the different art dealers.

At the beginning of the book, the author uses a great deal of imagination to introduce us to the life of the Mueller couple. The painter died in 1930 and the painting changed hands for the first time three years later. At that time, inflation was raging in Germany, and the dissatisfaction of the population led to the appointment of Adolf Hitler to the chancellorship by Hindenburg.

Between 1933 and 1946, the painting miraculously survived censorship and the destruction of works deemed degenerate by the Nazis. Thousands of works of modern German art were set on fire by the authorities.

Pogroms spread across Germany. Jewish-owned paintings were seized. When the Gestapo forced part of Ismar Littmann’s (German link, English link) collection to be auctioned off , it selected 64 works, 53 of which were immediately burned.

During the same period, a traveling exhibition entitled “Entartete Kunst” (“Degenerate Art”) was commissioned by Joseph Goebbels, and 730 works traveled between Munich and other major German cities. Ironically, this degenerate art ended up attracting three times as many visitors as acceptable German craftsmanship, whose works were displayed in nearby buildings.

A page from the graphic novel "Deux filles nues" by Luz edited by Albin Michel.
A page from the graphic novel “Deux filles nues” by Luz edited by Albin Michel.

Until 1946, the painting “Deux filles nues” changed ownership several times, and continued to survive the bombings, organized destruction and art thefts carried out by the Nazis.

After the war, the painting’s name was changed from Zwei Mädchenakte (“Two Nude Girls”) to Zwei weibliche Halbakte (“Two Female Half-Nudes”) and toured Germany and the world. In 1976, it was exhibited at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne. Former owners Ruth and Chaim Haller were finally reunited with their painting in 1999. Ruth is the daughter of Ismar Littmann, mentioned at the beginning of this article.

The museum officially returned the work to the owners, but in the same year made an offer to buy it back, which was accepted by the Hallers. Today, the painting can be found in the Expressionist section of Cologne’s Ludwig Museum.

Through his considerable research and the publication of his graphic novel, the author underlines the importance of remaining alert to the political and cultural censorship that regularly resurfaces.

The book ends with a chronology of events and biographies of the main characters. The author goes to great lengths not to show us what the painting “Two Naked Girls” looks like, until we’re practically at the end of the story! A very clever way of keeping our curiosity alive.

Click on the link for more graphic novels and comics on my blog.

Title: Deux filles nues

Author: LUZ

Publisher: Albin Michel, © 2024

ISBN: 978-2-226-48957-9 (French)

Categories
Photos of Quebec

Autumn photos in Quebec.

Cap Tourmente National Reserve 2024
Cap Tourmente National Reserve 2024

Above, a railroad track crossing the Cap-Tourmente National Wildlife Area in Quebec. Autumn is well underway and red is no longer part of the scene. However, the colors remain attractive. At the time of our visit, only 26,000 of the 600,000 geese migrating south remained.

Trees in the Montcalm dictrict in Québec City during Autumn 2024.
Trees in the Montcalm dictrict in Québec City during Autumn 2024.

The Montcalm sector of Quebec City is brimming with majestic trees that change colour in autumn. Those photographed above are located right next to the Battlefields Park, owned by the Government of Canada.

Trees of the Grande-Allée in Quebec City in Autumn.
Trees of the Grande-Allée in Quebec City in Autumn.

The tree above is on Grande-Allée, in the direction of Old Quebec. I shot it using a Canon EF 11–24 mm f/4 USM wide-angle lens. All I had to do was wait until 10:00 AM for the sun to strike the foliage from the side. Earlier than that, the brightness is a little lacking, and later the sun rises too high and hits the foliage from above with a violent light that detracts from the overall effect.

Trees in a Sillery street in Québec City during Autumn 2024.
Trees in a Sillery street in Québec City during Autumn 2024.

Above are a few trees in the Sillery area of Quebec City. It’s not often that red leaves cover several tree trunks. You have to be there at the right time, because the effect doesn’t last long. We also need to be able to count on the wisdom of homeowners who have seen fit to let nature do its job, rather than cleaning everything up to make it look “nicer,” as we sometimes see.

Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Autumn on my blog.