Mois : décembre 2024

The end of the year has caught up with me/us – possibly the fact that it’s been so mild recently – somehow the Christmas needs snow on the ground to be really authentic.

The local council here in Auch provide us with a small spectacle every year, and unlike last year where we had people waving flame-throwers everywhere in pouring rain, this year we had illuminated kites flying over the centre of the town.

We were lucky with the weather and this drew a large crowd.

After a time dancing around the square, the kites floated down towards the cathedral.

As unexpected as it was beautiful, the cathedral facade then played host to a projected video image…

The municipal decorations made it fairly clear where we were…

All in all a very pleasant way to spend an hour in Auch on a chilly winters night.

This is the term generally used to describe self-published books where authors pay to publish their own book instead of passing by the more traditional book editors.

I recently purchased a new photographic book by well known actress Audrey TATOU. She teamed up with the crew from the French magazine FISHEYE and this is the result which was published on the 29th of November 2024.

Frankly I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to say about this collection of images and texts…which makes me think of the title of this article.

TATOU is known as a keen amateur photographer, and past images, although few and far between, have shown a certain competance – this cannot be denied. However, the texts (many from her days of filming « The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain » in 2000) and the photos are supposed to « …questionne son statut de star avec humour et profondeur » question her status as a star with depth and humour.

I beg to differ – I find nothing particularly interesting, humouristic or profound in pages of ‘contact’ prints of lighting setups or postage stamp portraits (to my mind, completely out of context) taken during filming.

© Audrey Tatou

© Audrey Tatou

I feel sure that there is some deep and meaningful logic to all this, probably only discernable to people who know her well, but I can’t help thinking it’s taking the piss.

Sorry Mme Tatou but for once I really can’t help thinking you could do better than this…or as they say, don’t give up the day job.

3/10 must try harder