Our light.
In Provence, it is another member of the family.
It can be moody, blindingly brilliant or caress with a tenderness that is almost painful. It might show you parts of yourself that you had tried to hide or illuminates a love that you have long held dear. It is a powerful reminder.
Seldom banal, it is as expressive as its people and as changeful, as wanton as the seasons that push time with a heavy hand.
How often it has struck me silent and aroused the wonder that beauty can bring. At such moments as this, a sunset in an olive grove, I feel suspended with no need to clutch or ask for more.
For this is our light. In Provence, we are kith and kin.
No – there is something about your eye that is special!!
I think you have immersed yourself into the space and it has become a part of you – I would have to spend time to soak in it – to even come close to the wonderful nuances you pick up with your camera!!
Cheers – we are talking about heading up into the Baltic countries next year and I am hoping to do some water colour work (the rugged islands and coastal areas I have seen picts of there) – as part of an art residency – but I definitely have a tag made to come back to the South of France – you seduce every day!!
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You would have painted it better than I could photograph it Wyn!
These are wonderful, evocative images, capturing the Mediterranean light beautifully. I love olive groves, there is a fabulous old grove in Western Australia, where I come from, run by Benedictine monks.
Thanks to Virginia (Glamour Drops) for introducing me to your blog! Penny x
Love the sun filtering through the Olive trees and the old cart peeking out the side – wow – so sensory loaded!! Wow!!!!!!!!
That was a wonderful moment, Lorrie. We had taken a path in the 4×4 that we had somehow always missed and came upon the mystery of the bees just at sunset…
I bet you could write a dissertation about the peace in olive groves based on the so many you have seen in your recent travels! Ah, Greece must be gorgeous…
Susan, I thought about your comment while walking the dogs. And…I have to say that all of us that come from elsewhere seem to always appreciate the beauty here…it is only sometimes the folks that have grown up with it all their lives that might take it for granted…but that is true everywhere I suppose!
We need to get Helen Tilston over here, pronto!!
Love all of your lights too, Jeanne–including that inner one of yours that shines so bright.
Merci, N. I love the way you express yourself!
I will curtsy but deliver the same compliment at your feet, D.
Nothing better than spreading a little light in a parking structure!
The Alpilles are very dry, full of what is called the maquis–a low lying scrub of thyme, rosemary and sage plants that smell wonderful…
I almost wrote that Loree!! I can't count how many times it has totally uplifted my mood. It's a little miracle each time.
Um, I am rather embarrassed to admit that it is MIGHTY rare that I see a sunrise…usually only when needing to take an early train or plane! Oops! Buuuut, the few times that I have, it starts off gorgeously subtle…then the light grows…
C'est moi qui vous remercie…
Would you?!? đ
And nope, if it were Lily of the Valley that would have been too incredible true in our lifetime! But I love those little white flowers when they grow in the olive groves each year.
I have absolutely learned the same thing from Remi too, Marsha. At times, I still want to take the photo no matter what but it is only when the light is special that I am happy with it.
Merci, Michel. Still no Simiane but soon I hope!
Beautiful light, always varying. I love the photo of the bee hives against the mountains. Such loveliness feeds the soul.
The olive groves alone, I've found, provide such a sense of peace, a timeless grounding. The sun is simply an added treat to an already hefty serving of 'soul food'.
The light… and your pictures… are beautiful. But it takes a special person to live in its midst and truly see and appreciate it.
I see the perfect spot for a bit of plein air painting..an artist's dream..love your light Heather..xx
And like family the light is so different and yet so similar! The pictures are truly truly stunning! Xx
From where I sit – nonetheless with a pretty view of greenery – your images are stunning and otherworldly. What beauty you can paint.
Wow.
Glorious.
Stuck in a long line at a BH parking structure.
Needed that.
Tgxxx
Lovely.
It looks very stark there.
You have captured the essence and the beauty of the Provencal light so well. Light is an amazing thing – it can be so uplifting to the mood, don't you think?
the light you've captured is gentle, barely there. Sunset, I suppose. are mornings brilliantly lit or just as subtle?
"It might show you parts of yourself that you had tried to hide or illuminates a love that you have long held dear. It is a powerful reminder." This is pure poetry, as are the images. Merci bien.
Is that Lily of The Valley under the olive trees?
Do you ever tire of all the beauty!???
My son calls this "evocative" light. Sometimes, without the special light there would be no photograph, you have captured the essence of it perfectly. xx's
Your pictures with the varying amount of light are very beautiful. A terrific post.