Auteur: Paul Struijk

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blog #23 The Seven Acts of Mercy

In Naples / Napoli (It.) around the year 1600 a painter arrived and made a painting which till today remains very interesting: The Seven Acts of Mercy
These acts are things you can do and probably must do as human on a daily basis to help people in trouble: give a poor man something to eat; give a rifugiato / fugitive / immigrant a place to sleep ..

Encountering many people in difficult situations often through no fault of their own is an invitation to learn something about yourself .. and maybe change.

This man wrote a letter or two home in far away Africa .. but those letters never got send and were blowing in the wind.

This painter is as you probably know Caravaggio .. the one with the high contrast in his paintings

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blog #22 Stories to tell

The ancient center of Naples / Napoli (It.) is an experience. Everything is old, used several times, hardly adapted to modern times, colorful, loud and a piece in the world that can make you happy.
If you understand some basic things about the people from Napoli and want to behave according to that.

Plans this year 2024 are: The souls of some old buildings – Dancing spirits – Urban Seafront – Hockney avant Garibaldi

An revival of my old Hasselblad to create some pieces with B+W film and combine images on contactsheets as I did in the ’90s

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blog #21 On the edge

The outskirts of town .. ‘no man’s land’ – freedom to move around

How to create a nice tension in a static urban still life image .. Most of the image is kind of empty, the chair – our main subject – far in the upper part a bit in a corner. The more difference between the object and the rest (=negative) space the better it is till you go over the edge .. and you have nothing.

The texture of the concrete jetty, graffiti colors, greenblue-yellowish water .. the setting is amazing at the former NDSM ship yard now a location for creative people, loud music, parties and new developers who in the near future will make lot’s of money out of this.

At the end of the day we – the Paris contestants April 2024 – end up at Noorderlicht a culinary hangout and also a cultural oasis for those seeking refuge from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. Located in the raw, industrial and artistic ambiance of this old yard.

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blog #20 Colossus of Paris

One of the Seven Wonders of the New World

How the brain works .. we see what we think we see.
The Grande Arche in Paris is standing at the end of a long axis from the Louvre through the Arc de Triomphe to La Defense where it ends at the steps of this huge building. The huge space in front of the Grande Arche is something to inspire photographers and artists from around the world.
The Grande Arche is simply said a frame .. a huge frame with nothing in it but air .. or heaven if you wish.
Good to know that the square has been created for people from all over the world to meet .. all kinds of people, all culture4s, all genders, all colors, all ages etc.
I imagine all kinds of art there at the square and inside the frame. My suggestion is to place several statues of Colossus there at specific well chosen locations to mark the space and the proportions of the building and the people. Preferably in different colors and one wrapped in cloth to honor Christo (who did not do the Arche by the way).