Blog
Category: Editorial
Pocket of Resistance in the French Alps
The remote mountain valley of Breil-sur-Roya has something of a rebellious history. Word has it that the community once tried to make a break for administrative independence from Nice; in wartime, Jews were harboured there; it is also a rare commune in the South of France to have voted in a left-wing mayor. Now Breil-sur-Roya is rebelling again. Villagers have been breaking the law by providing shelter and food to illegal migrants who have crossed the Italy-France border on foot.
How to Sell a Superyacht
Defined as a crewed yacht that is at least 24 metres long (the length of a tennis court), a superyacht comes with a price tag of over a million Euros per metre. Just filling up the fuel tank of the biggest boats can cost 200 000 €. While a private jet might be seen as a justifiable business expense (time being a valuable asset to Very Important People), a superyacht can’t be couched as anything other than pure indulgence, however imaginative one’s accountant. Yet the market is currently very healthy indeed. Last year, twice as many superyachts were sold globally compared to 5 years ago, and the French Riviera is a good place to buy one.
Behind the Veil in Nice
Strutting down La Promenade des Anglais in Nice or La Croisette in Cannes, enjoying the air / the view / the buzz of being admired or admiring: ‘flâner’ [the neat French word for this activity] is a favourite pastime in the South of France. It is a pleasure that anyone can indulge in, regardless of age, means and looks. However, when I, as photographer, was assigned to spend the afternoon with a woman wearing a niqab, I learned that strolling on the French Riviera is not always enjoyable and Nice, it turns out, looks rather different through a veil.
Lavender Production in Provence
Lavender is often seen as the quintessential symbol of Provence. Every summer, visitors flock to the South of France to see lavender fields, generating a thriving tourist trade around them. However there are still hidden areas of Provence where lavender growers are left entirely in peace. Last summer, I was chosen as photographer to join Stern magazine’s writer making a travel reportage about off-the-beaten-track lavender growing in France. The assignment involved excessive heat, mud, espionage, getting lost, getting high and pushing a van. Life as an assignment photographer is rarely dull.
King of the Cannes Jungle
Handelsblatt magazine chose the simple title of ‘King of Bling’ for their portrait of fashion designer Philipp Plein, and any visitor to Plein’s sumptuous villa in Cannes will quickly see why. Crossing the threshold, their first view will be of an enormous stuffed lion, frozen in an upright posture of attack. But, bravely continuing past it, the visitor will be rewarded by a wall display of hundreds of bottles of special Plein edition Moët & Chandon champagne, and a beautiful, young Pleinite waif might step out of the shadows to greet them. In his self-styled design jungle, Philipp is king – and what better place for this kind of jungle than the Côte d’Azur?
Contemporary Art in Nice
Provence has long been associated with art. Cézanne, Renoir, Chagall, Picasso and Matisse are among the many painters who have been drawn to the bright Mediterranean colours, the light and the agreeable climate of the South of France (photographers, I can attest, also appreciate these qualities…). But does a homegrown arts scene thrive on the French Riviera today, or does it depend on the legacy of its former glory? A writer from German magazine, Stern, came recently to investigate the current art scene in Nice for a travel feature, and I, photographer, was happy to join in his two day art immersion.
Lunch with Finnish Economist
Björn Wahlroos is arguably Finland’s most important businessman. As outspoken as he is successful, arch-capitalist economist Björn is chairman of three of the biggest companies in the Nordic region. He also regularly participates in debates on the financial future of Europe in Brussels and has recently written a book about free market economic theories. Danish business newspaper Børsen decided to run a feature about Wahlroos, so their journalist flew down to join him in the South of France and I was the photographer commissioned to take his portrait.
Monaco: Mission Control
Something rather exciting is happening up in the sky at the moment. As I type, the first ever round-the-world flight of a solar-powered plane is being attempted and the current base of the mainly Swiss team of engineers working on this pioneering project is right here on the French Riviera. One might think that Monaco, with its two crowded square kilometres of land, would not be ideally suited to housing a space station, but one would be wrong. Monaco is currently home to the control centre of Solar Impulse and I recently went down to photograph the project’s Mission Control Engineer, Michael Anger.
Countdown to Cannes
The smell of summer is suddenly in the air in the South of France. Down in Cannes, fur coats have been tossed aside in favour of sequinned bikinis as winter-white skin is unleashed onto the beach. MIPIM (Cannes’s big annual real estate trade event held at le Palais des Festivals) has come and gone, which means only one thing: the countdown to the Cannes Film Festival has begun…
Monaco Murder Most Horrid
Think of Monaco and you’re more likely to think of Formula One and champagne than murder mysteries. However, in May this year, the richest woman in Monaco, Hélène Pastor, was gunned down in nearby Nice. The prime suspect in arranging her murder is her son-in-law and the suspected motive was a potent mix of money and social rejection. Eyes across the world briefly turned to Monaco, including those of German news magazine Der Spiegel. I joined two reporters to put together a feature about Monaco’s social culture, the ‘breeding ground’ for this crime.