Museums - ongoing...

Like my last post from a while back, these are from the very nice municipal museum in Agen (halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse, southwest France).

This room was mostly occupied by local native François-Xavier Lalanne, known for his utilitarian (cabinets, drawers, sofas...) animalistic sculptures. Quite talented with pencil and ink as well.







The display cabinets were themselves objects of great craftmanship. These bird-lamps by Heike Muhlhaus fit in beautifully.




And I liked this flaming sun-mirror (I'm not sure this was a Lalanne creation), which somehow echoed the aforementioned bird-lamps.

Amazing set of images. The bird lamps are so delightful.

I think the mono tones and contrasts project the character and nuances of the subjects well, and there's an appropriate "arty" feeling, a sophistication, that the photos convey.

I'm not so convinced by the compositions which seem to, in some cases, present the subjects at a tangent, or even cut off, and in some there is a lack of focal point, meaning it's hard to latch on visually.

Thanks for the kudos, DSP.

And thanks for the thoughts, Nigel. I do admit to striving for a general feel in most of my images, rather than necessarily having a clearly delineated subject. Your first paragraph is a confirmation I should continue that route, while your second gives me good warning that, perhaps, attention must also be paid to affirming structure within that mindframe.

Strong sense of mood, as ever... really like the half seen elements... and the interplay of shadow, reflection and the real thing... particularly like the half beast of no. 1 (head and feet, body replaced by head and light reflection), and the paint crack dividing the frame in 4...

Best