Here comes the sun. Let's grab it.

Pierre Le Tan, as an inspiration with his own paintings used three of my photographs. Pierre was the first person I showed them to. At that time he was working on his own exhibition. Turned out to be a little mano a mano...

Dear Fellow Bloggers BEST WISHES FOR A VERY HAPPY YEAR 2011 XO IVAN And as a special treat for you, here are a few photos of Mary Randolph Carter, as never seen nor published before. I photographed her at Elm Glen Farm, her estate upstate New York. We had a jolly time, but how could we not? Carter is talent incarnated and so much fun !

The photographer Robert Polidori working at the Chateau de Versailles. Polidori became world famous with his first book on Versailles and later on Tchernobyl and Cuba. In the early nineties I assisted him on a couple of shoots. We were good friends and still are. Robert has a show opening next week, at the Galleria Carla Sozzani, 10 Corso Cuomo in Milan. A very prestigious venue.

On the beach today.

The recent works on clay remind me of Pompei, shadows covered in ash, fossilized in their daily occupation. A snapshot. The way they turned out was not entirely predictable. It never stops to fascinate me.

Running Errands and Doing Chores

warm air and ... light !

Please meet Sophie D. la strega nera (the black witch) di Marrakech.

Catch of the day.Marrakech

The gladiators of our time. Screenshots. France versus Australia. France got a beating and a calendar signed by François Rousseau.

Chateau de Versailles, la garde robe de Louis XVI. The ultimate masterpiece of the ancient regime. Hidden within the exquisite carvings, little graffiti referring to the latest scientific discoveries of the time. As The World of Interiors didn't reproduce them (a bit unfortunate I thought), here they are.

Olivier's story- Part Two. Two years after we had met, Olivier sent us a mysterious message requesting us to come to Saint Maartens for a 5 star cruise. He came to meet us at the airport rather undone and with bloodshot eyes, not quite his old self. He had given up his little yacht "Cesar" and was about to buy half of "Mulde", an old and run down East German cargo ship which belonged to a German skipper named Timo and his wife Suzy and to a third partner always referred to as Fucking Joe. Timo and Suzy where extremely sweet and we all got along beautifully. I instantly fell in love with Mulde of course. At first, it was all very joyful and fun and we sailed around the islands quite happily until the day the money that was supposed to arrive to finalize the deal was found missing. It wasn't long before the situation got nasty. I'll save you the details, but paradise turned into hell. The conclusion of this sad story is that Olivier left the board and was found a year after hanging by the neck at the top mast of a ship wreck he had just acquired and was fixing up. He was a friend but I couldn't help him. I hope he has found peace.