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PHOTO STORIES

There are people, experiences, and subjects so multi-faceted as to make them impossible to distill into one photograph that says it all. Like any artist, I do fall in love with singular images I have captured. Sometimes I'm chasing light, or seeking out the ugly cherubs festooning architectural facades, and I'm often simply pleased with the graphic composition of my photographs.

 

As I follow my eye and heart around, however, I come upon situations that are so visually rich and interesting to me, that every time the camera shutter clicks, I have received a gift. Some of the photographs make it to my blog, and here are some other photographic stories. I keep trundling down this path where poetry, reality, the apparent and the unknown beckon me to approach with open eyes and an open heart.

Transhumance in France Today

Transhumance refers to the transfer of livestock from winter to summer pastures and vice versa. Traditionally, across Europe thousands of sheep and cows would be herded from low valleys to graze in higher altitudes during summer.

 

As the economic make-up of France has moved away from its traditional agrarian base, transhumance has fallen by the wayside. No longer can a farm family subsist with a small flock and a small parcel of land. For instance, rural landscapes the Lot department are no longer "mowed" by sheep. Combined with climate change, this has contributed to a loss of biodiversity and increased fire hazard.

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A movement has begun to move herds from one area to another to help maintain the ecological balance, keep alive the culture of shepherding, and reduce grass fire danger. Every spring, a flock moves from Rocamadour to Luzech, led by shepherds, cheered by villagers, and followed by hundred of walkers motivated by the simple pleasure of walking through the countryside the way people used to do.

Gypsy Festival, Saintes Maries de la Mer

Color, a hundred thousand gypsies from all over Europe, and an adored saint all come out to parade from the vaulted cellar of the church into the sea at Saintes Maries de la Mer in the Camargue region of southern France. It was late May after a dreary winter and the event sounded like vitamins for the spirit.

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The small dark statue is of Sara, who may have been a servant of two holy Marys, mothers of Jesus' disciples, who miraculously drifted to France after banishment from Israel. She may have had a number of other identities, too. Whatever her roots, she is venerated as the patron saint of gypsies.

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Plazas reverberated with guitar chords and flamenco song, the stone vault under the church pulsed with heat from thousands of votives and people praying and kissing the statue of Sara. A market erupted with everything a gypsy might need from, curiously, many, many, brooms, to polka dotted shoes for girls, and colorful plastic guitars for boys. Gitans, Manouches, and Romani - different groups of gypsies, parked everywhere in high-end camper vans, passenger cars, and traditional caravans.

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On Saturday afternoon, the beach packed with people awaiting the arrival of the saint's statue. She was preceded by the local horsemen, symbolic that the town respects the gypsies. Then she appears, held high, adorned in layers of finery, baubles, and prayers, down to the sea that had brought her to bless this place.

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The bright, noisy festival continues through the night. On Sunday, the campers, cars, and caravans of Europe's nomads filter back into their regular lives on the perimeters of society.

The American Baker in France

Jan Schrader is a baking dynamo. She's also American, a woman, and operating a bakery in a rural village in France. She moves deftly from scoring the loaves "just so", to  the huge ovens, to the mixers, all the while telling you important details about various grains, apprenticeship programs in France, and how she came to be here. 

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The details of bread baking are central to Schrader's passion these days, but they weren't always so. She has multiple masters degrees in international economics, she's been a field hockey coach, and a seamstress,among myriad pursuits.

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Her baking career began with Georges Perrier, the big name French chef in Philadelphia,where she's from. Schrader talked with Perrier despite the fact she knew nothing about croissants. He was so desperate, he said, “I’ll teach you.” This was one of the amazing strokes of luck that have appeared to Schrader, and her “Yes, okay” response is how she greets all opportunities.  She recounts making croissants all day long, and the expertise that comes with a lot of repetition.

 

Laughing, she remembers two of the lessons from her croissant experience, and Perrier’s own words. “ You have to get it right from the beginning, or else the rest of the effort is wasted.”  Second, “ You have to be fast if you are going to earn any money at all from croissants.” Croissants are so notoriously difficult and time-consuming to make, that most French bakeries these days make use of croissant services. However, in that subterranean bakery, Schrader learned to get it right from the beginning, and learned to do it fast. She makes her own croissants to this day.

 

She wanted to learn more, and decided to attend the Institute National de Boulangerie et Patisserie in Rouen. With a little cash and a little more French, she enrolled. Following her programme there, she became apprentice to Boris Portolan, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France. She had met her French husband while at baking school, and together they went scouting for a place to open a bakery.

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She ended up in Monpazier, while her husband teaches baking at a nearby school. She runs the operation almost singlehandedly. The grueling schedule has taught her a lot about running a small business in France, baking, and what it takes to turn a dream into reality. Schrader has been featured on the television program Meilleur Boulangerie de France, The Best Bakery in France. My longer article about her will be featured elsewhere.

 

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