Reymon de Real PhotographyLADY LIBERTY
Posted on September 25, 2019
I’ve been to New York City numerous times but have never made it to the Statue of Liberty. Twice I booked a ferry ride around Manhattan and both times they were cancelled due to bad weather. Somehow fate seemed to be telling me I needed to stay away from Lady Liberty.
Last year I finally became a naturalized citizen and during my trip to New York early this summer I thought it was the rightful time to pay the lady in green a visit. I was filled with excitement waking up to a bright and sunny morning then catching the metro to downtown and waiting for the ferry to take me to Liberty Island. As the ferry sailed closer, a strong sense of exhilaration took over me when I came face to face with the Statue of Liberty. As an immigrant to this country, I can now relate how those early Europeans felt when they were greeted by this colossal statue as they sailed into the New York harbor more than a hundred years ago. My journey may have been much easier compared to those early immigrants but all the years of waiting for my employer to inform me that I can finally move to America was quite a stressful experience indeed.
As I walked around the complex I recalled the lines from “The New Colossus” a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus, which were inscribed on a bronze plaque and placed on the pedestal of the statue. The famous last stanza of the sonnet goes: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
My visit to the Statue of Liberty was both gratifying and liberating. It was the culmination of my long journey to this land of milk and honey as well as a validation to my American Dream.
PLUIE À PARIS
Posted on September 22, 2018
The city of Paris is unquestionably one of the most romantic places in the world. Its tree lined boulevards and ornate facades, the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe as well as the River Seine and all of its bridges all add to the air of romanticism that constantly envelopes the city. Aside from these, one thing that also made me fall madly in love with Paris was when rain started falling on it. The city sparkles and gleam brightly when wet…so instead of escaping from the rain, I walked into it with my umbrella and camera embracing the sense of solitude that it provided me. The photographs in this post were taken on the days it rained while I was in Paris. The first two were taken at The Louvre, the third one was at my hotel’s neighborhood at Avenue Kléber while the last one was right outside of Musée D’Orsay. I also decided to present the photographs in black and white to create a timeless look in them. The title is simply a French translation of the words “Rain in Paris”, which I thought sounded more sexy in French.
MONOCHROMATIC PARIS
Posted on February 21, 2018
Paris is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world and to capture in a photograph the very essence of this city is quite a challenge. I have an extensive collection of photographs from my last trip to the City of Lights but I’ve been struggling how to present them in a cohesive manner. I did notice a lot of street scene photos in my collection so I decided to group together a few of my favorites and present them all in black and white. The monochromatic effect creates a timeless and romantic feel to the photographs as if they were all taken in a different era. From the magazine kiosks and roadside cafes to the charming neighborhood shops and magnificent tree lined boulevards, it is definitely very difficult not to fall in love with this city.
CHANDELIER MANDALA
Posted on September 5, 2016
The opulence of the Château de Versailles in Paris, France can never be captured in a photograph. One has to be there to experience the luxury and lavishness of the place and understand the kind of lifestyle the French royals once lived. I found myself exploring one of the many rooms of the palace when my vision got diverted into a heavily decorated ceiling with a crystal chandelier suspended right above me. At first thought, the whole vision reminded me of a mandala, which is a geometric and religious symbol of the universe in Indian religions. In the case of my photograph, I decided to name it a chandelier mandala…a symbol of a lifestyle that most of us will never get to experience.
PARIS IN PINK
Posted on August 8, 2016
The elegant and sophisticated city of Paris was my home for a week in the summer of 2015. It was my first trip to the French capital and I made sure to visit every major Parisian landmark during my stay. On my first few hours in the city, I visited the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower as both monuments were just a few blocks away from my hotel along Avenue Kléber. The Arc de Triomphe was quite majestic in the middle of this roundabout providing a gateway to the world famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées. This monument, which is a museum with access to the rooftop, was built in honor of those who fought during the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. When I took this photo, I forgot to remove a filter on my lens thus looking a little pink-orange…and so did every other photo I took that day. 😬😜
Reymon de Real Photography 