¡Very beautiful pictures! María Teresa 2012/12/8 AL Holland <[email protected]> > Beautiful photos. Thanks for the link Bill. > > Regards, > > AL Holland > > > > On Sat, Dec 8, 2012 at 10:56 AM, Bill Gawne <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Dear friends of Beara, > > > > I just saw this and had to share it with you. > > > > --- Begin quoted text --- > > > > In May 1913, Marguerite Mespoulet and Madeleine Mignon, two French > > women in their early 30s, arrived in Co. Galway, armed with heavy > > cameras and, more importantly the Autochrome Lumière plates, which > > enabled them to produce the first colour images of Ireland. > > > > Their assignment to photograph the people of Galway was part of a > > massive project entitled ?The Archives of the Planet? sponsored by a > > wealthy French banker and philanthropist called Albert Kahn. > > > > These photographs show that old Ireland was by no means as austere as > > traditional black and white photographs imply. As well as the brown > > bogs, yellowing gorse and grey skies, the two French ladies captured > > the people of Claddagh and Spiddal wearing costumes so colourful they > > would not be out of place in the Himalayas. > > > > In her journal, Mespoulet wrote: ?The young men leave for North > > America, the young women too and when the old die the house is > > abandoned and falls into ruin. There is hardly a village where one > > doesn't find forlorn skeletons of small grey houses invaded by nettles.? > > > > Kahn went on to lose his fortune with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, > > but his immense Archive amassed some 72,000 color photographs between > > 1909-1931, including 73 of Ireland by Mespoulet and Mignon. > > > > You can see a slide show of these early Irish photographs here at > > > > > http://albert-kahn.hauts-de-seine.net/archives-de-la-planete/mappemonde/europe/irlande/ > > > > The photographs, recognized as one of the finest collections in the > > world, now reside at the site of Kahn?s garden in the Musee Albert > > Kahn at 14, Rue du Port, Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris. > > > > Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds a collection of > > Mespoulet's papers. As far as I can tell, there's still masses to > > learn from Kahn's exceptional project, so if anyone out there is > > seeking a new line of hobby ... > > > > --- End quoted text --- > > > > I'm going to put a link to this on the Children of Beara blog too, and > > perhaps I'll be able to figure out how to embed the images there. But > > do take a moment and look at them. The website is in French, so it's > > a bit hard to read if you don't read Francais, but even so, the images > > are beautiful. > > > > -- Bill > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes > > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >