Making sense of it all. Stories that change us.
We have always needed places of refuge and protection from others and from ourselves. Without them, our individual and social wellbeing is threatened. The Abbey of Villers-la-Ville is a 40-minutes drive from Brussels, Belgium. Built in the 12th century, the abbey was abandoned in 1796 and fell into ruin. At the height of its power,…
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I clung compulsively to things I thought I wanted / needed / couldn’t live without. What were those things? self-imposed standards (“if I do this at all, it needs to be great”) expectations of others (especially when they were likely to be upset or disappointed if their expectations weren’t met) my expectations (“why am I…
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“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.” (John Muir) I feel the same. Going in the wild means deflating the ego. Accepting ourselves as a tiny part of something large and amazing.…
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I’ve done this short series that I called “Cities in silence”. It’s the silence of cities devoid of people, withdrawn, turned towards themselves. There is a certain nostalgic beauty to it. The last in this series is Brussels. This is the place where it can rain for a whole week and winter winds chill you…
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We usually talk of dead ends metaphorically. What we mean is that something didn’t work out. We feel we cannot continue along a certain path. But sometimes dead ends are real endpoints – there is nothing beyond them and we cannot turn back either. And while there may be warnings along the way, there’s no…
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Home is a state of mind. I’ve never lived in Lisbon but everytime I go there I feel like I belong. Maybe it’s the light. There’s a special quality to the light of this city. The way it gently embraces everything. The lightness and openness it creates. I miss waiting for sunrise somewhere in Alfama,…
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Taking photos depends on moving, exploring, changing the perspective. Approaching possible photo compositions and subjects from different angles. Dancing around them to find a good composition. Waiting for the good moment. It’s physical. I used to favor zoom lenses. It was convenient to be able to zoom in and frame from a distance. But my…
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Paris wasn’t love at first sight for me. There was something about it a bit too imperial and well-to-do for my taste. I felt it was lacking humility. But I learned to love its silences, shadows, and hidden beauty during long walks. Without the usual tourist crowds, this subtle beauty of abandonment and ruin became…
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I woke up suddenly in the dark. Somebody had just called my name. Was I dreaming? A long time ago, when I was living at my grandma’s and I couldn’t sleep, I used to listen to the noises coming from the attic. Mice looking for food. I knew that, but I couldn’t help imagining other…
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Late morning. I walk towards the rising sun. There’s a huge concert of birds all around me. The first bluebells are here, early heralds of what will soon be a deep blue forest cover. I stop for a drink of coffee and I watch the play of light and shadow. Being on the move means…
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