this has the elements of an amsterdam still life - a bicycle, a red brick wall, a tall window, a scrawl of graffiti - but is clearly, undefinably (at least to me) not dutch. i suppose it has something to do with use of colour and state of repair; the romantic in me, however, prefers to ponder the intrinsic spirit of age-old stone and shingle.
i spent the last couple of days in antwerp, you see, and wondered - as i did a few months back - at how faraway a city just a few hours from home can feel.
And that really caught my eyes, is the bicycle's plastic-bag wrapped seat. I wonder, what is was about? :)
ReplyDeleteYou lucky girl! Isn't Antwerp fabulous? And you're right, there's something about the picture that radiates a certain non-dutch-ness. I think the door is a giveaway as well. And what about the feeble bicycle lock? This bike wouldn't stand here for very long if this were in Amsterdam...
ReplyDeleteThe plastic bag, though, is pure Dutch, isn't it Lynn? I recall many a time watching Marieke wrap and unwrap her seat when she had protected it from the rain.
ReplyDeleteThat graffiti looks like stuff down on the Bondi promenade ... graffiti for the graphically challenged.
Such a lovely photo -- I don't know anything about Dutch or non-Dutch -- but I'm already imagining the person who lives here... very evocative!
ReplyDeleteI like the color relationships: the orange shared by the sign and the reflector, the white shared by the drapery and the seat cover... Quite nice!
ReplyDeleteI like sites like this, there's always something happening.
ReplyDeleteSo you want to come back again and again. Interesting text and photography.
Keep up the good work.
zenzien.zoefzoek.com
You did notice the bikes are different? (and that the north could be everywhere ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis shot rewards second visits. Notice how the swoop of the tag seems to leave the bike seat alone, almost like a halo over it? And the loop of the bike chain on the rear wheel, along with the loop of fabric holding back on the drapery.
ReplyDeleteTo me it might as well have been Dutch.. or not? I'm confused....
ReplyDelete