Behind the camera

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Dakar 2009

The sound of the engine comes from far away, behind a gentle hill in the road. Grave and deep, it announces its arrival much before you see it. Slowly, from the roof to the huge wheels, it appears from behind the hill. Motorbikes and cars have passed by all the morning, but this is different. Your blood freezes and you feel small when the 8 tons, 3 meters high thing passes you at full speed, just meters away. A bit later the engine drops down the revolutions and the big mass waves a little under the powerful braking, but not for long: a quick turn to right and it accelerates again to disappear in the distance. Welcome to the awesome spectacle of the Dakar's trucks...

After calling off the 2008 edition of the traditional raid París-Dakar due to terrorist threats in the African part of the route, the organizers (ASO) took a risky decision: to move the 2009 edition to South America. Organized together by Argentina and Chile, the Dakar 2009 went through the wonderful landscapes of both countries in a route that took it from Buenos Aires to the Patagonia, through the Andes and to the driest dessert in the world, and back to the departure point two weeks later. Two weeks that will stay in the history of the competition because the risk taken by ASO was rewarded with a resounding success, specially between the public: in a country where motorsport runs trough the veins of the majority, millions rushed to the roads to see the passing of motorbikes, cars and trucks. I was among them and this is a little sample from the last stage for you to enjoy.

You are warned, however: you can see, listen and read everything at your disposal, but nothing and nobody can transmit you nor prepare you for the power of a massive truck in full competition...

"A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind."

Thierry Sabine

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Mondial de l'Automobile Paris 2008

The Paris Motorshow takes place every two years in the exhibitions hall at the Porte de Versailles; and there I went for the second time after my first experience in 2006. It's not a motor show in which you would expect impressive novelties from the motor world, but rather more one to find nice cars and some historic jewels. Here are the pictures for you to enjoy, road and race cars, from now and yesterday (I want that Maserati! :-) )

It's sad to see that several of the official teams represented by those cars would finally retire from competition shortly after. Subaru and Suzuki never started the 2009 WRC season; Honda retired from F1 at the end of 2008; Mitsubishi announced they won't take part of the 2010 Dakar. Crisis times...

"I owe motor racing all I have, which is a lot. My friends came to me thanks to the motor racing, because this is how the shed was born first; and how I passed to the garage later. Friends that many times were much more than that, which is already a lot."

Juan Manuel Fangio

While I'm writing this comes the news of the dead of Henry Surtees, 18-year-old son of 1964 F1 champion John Surtees, in a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch. Sad day, R.I.P. Henry...

From the same trip:

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Going German

After touring around the Italian speaking part, I crossed to the North of Switzerland and went to the German border. A day of visit at Konstanz and Zürich left few pictures owing to the rainy weather, mainly from the botanic garden at Mainau (Konstanz) and the surroundings of the Rathaus (Zürich).

"-Are you afraid of darkness?
-I am the darkness"

Let's All Kill Constance, Ray Bradbury

From the same trip:

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Sunday's Genève

First city that I visited in a one week trip through Switzerland, Geneva didn't turn out to be one of the prettiest cities of the tour. However, some places of the city are worthwhile and are portrayed on these pictures: tortuous passages from the old city, the lake Léman and the parks at its shores, and, of course, the famous water jet...

"There is a concept which corrupts and upsets all others. I refer not to Evil, whose limited realm is that of ethics; I refer to the infinite."

The Avatars of the Tortoise, Jorge Luis Borges

From the same trip:

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace

From the beginning of time the man has wanted to fly, but only since the end of the XIXth century we have leaved the world of the dreams and we have turned it into a daily reality. To the north of Paris, at the airfield of Le Bourget, it is located the Museum of the Air and the Space. It can be easily visited in one-day, but nevertheless it's surprising the quantity and the kind of machines it has.

In the inside, relics from the first pioneers: Bleriot, Levavasseur, Santos-Dumont. Outside: airliners (like a Boeing 747) and modern fighter planes (MIG-23, Lockheed F104G Starfighter), plus a couple of Ariane rockets (obviously they also have an indoor section devoted to space). But the stars of the visit for me were the planes of the temporal exhibition about the second war, with names that go back to the golden age of dogfight: P-47D Thunderbolt, P-51D Mustang, Spitfire MK XVI,...

"P-51! Cadillac of the sky!"

Empire of the Sun, Steven Spielberg

"Ce pour quoi tu acceptes de mourir, c'est cela seul dont tu peux vivre"

("The reason for which you're ready to die is the only reason to live")

Citadelle, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

From the same trip:

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Walking the Seine

Sandwiched Sunday in Paris, before taking a plane to Cargèse (Corse). And there is nothing better to do in Paris than walk her. From the 15ème to the 4ème arrondissement, at the banks of the Seine, bridges and monuments follow one after the other during the afternoon. Here is a (small) selection...

From the same trip:

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Retouches of Puerto Madero

During the 2 or 3 hours I spent at Buenos Aires before leaving for France this year, I went to walk and take some pictures in Puerto Madero. The place in itself is not very nice landscape-speaking, but it has some details that had worth the effort. In particular, playing around with the different viewpoints of the old cranes and ships (and a little of "focal black-and-white" from Picasa), it resulted in these images

From the same trip: