* Looking for needles in a HAYstack !

Scheveningen, The Hague, Netherlands. Digital Fuji T- X4

Nico and I met up in Luzern, which seems to be becoming a regular rendezvous point. We had a few days to rest and plan the next leg of our journey. We decided to stay in Switzerland for an extra week and hit the streets of Zürich and Basel. We found a fantastic internet café/co-working space that facilitated our needs and more - Auer & Co. We found a lot of great faces, and Switzerland turned out, to my surprise, to be much cooler than I had ever understood it to be in the past. I had spent time in Zürich in the past, but only ever on business trips, and I found it quite stiff. This time I was in cooler neighbourhoods and saw a side of the city that resembled Berlin more than what I remembered. It was laid-back. I assume being midd summer, many people were on vacation, so the city was chill. Towards the end of the week we spent a few days in Basel, which is also an amazing city. But as all good things come to an end, it was time to move on and head back to France.

I had long wanted to return to Normandy. I took my best friend there for his 30th birthday in 2019 - we spent a week in the south of Normandy and a week in the north. I had fallen deeply in love with the region and long desired to head back. We found relatively affordable accommodation in Le Havre, so this would be our base for the next week. We had a lot of ground to cover and many little coastal towns to discover. My hunch was that there would be lots of English and Dutch tourists at this time of year and that we would find interesting faces. But the whole place seemed depleted of young people — in a way more a place that older people vacate to, or very young families with toddlers. It didn’t change how much I love it in any way and I still think it is an amazing place to go for a vacation at the right time of year, or it would be wonderful to have a small property if you wanted to slow down and grow vegetables. But for our purposes at this current time on this particular project, it was close to a disaster. We did manage to shoot quite a bit during this week, mostly on the Mamiya RB67 (I gave Nico my old Nikon). I did a bit of digital work in Normandy but mostly film, which you can see in this group of photos as I developed 1 roll of Ektar 100 to make sure there are no issues or light leaks with the Mamiya - but the main work will come at a later date when I have the time and the money to develop the 120 films.

The Reader, Veulettes Sur Mer 002 - Kodak Ektar 100, Mamiya RB67

Sunburn, Veulettes Sur Mer 007 - Kodak Ektar 100, Mamiya RB67

A happy Zillah, Veulettes Sur Mer 002 - Kodak Ektar 100, Mamiya RB67

For more from that roll please click on Veulettes_sur_mer_

By the end of that unfruitful week and with the fires still raging in the south, West of France, which had been our next planned destination, we quickly had to pivot and decided to head north to Belgium. This was definitely the right decision. Within the first few days we started finding exactly what we needed and felt we could catch on the lost week prior. We’d also been sharing a single room in France, and while there was no issue between us lads, we’d both prefer to not have to share a sleeping room, and I am too old for single beds with a poodle to fit in with me. Anyways…. The next apartment we found was not only incredibly affordable but spacious and very cosy, with our own bedrooms. There wasn’t that much time to do personal work during this period in Belgium, though we did manage to go to Bruges and spend a bit of time in Antwerp. I’ve been to Belgium a few times but had never really stayed here, and I have to say it’s one of the nicest countries ,And as I was in Zurich, was delightfully surprised. I don’t know why I never paid attention to it previously, the cities are stunning, it’s affordable, the infrastructure is fantastic, and the people are friendly, all speaking English very well. It’s definitely a travel destination I would recommend.

An orange moment, Bruges, Belgium. Fuji T X4 .

One of the things I was most looking forward to was a visit to my dear aunt in Holland, an hour and a half drive from where we were staying. Nel, now 97, is still sharp as a tack and witty as ever. I was, as I have always been, happy to see her as I passed through. We had some carrot cake and a good laugh, took a phew photos and off we went.

Nel and Nico, Den Haag, Netherlands - Digital + flash on the Fuji T X4

We headed off to the beach in the afternoon to see who we could find and how it was in general. The only problem was that we were getting there much later than we’d initially hoped, as in the morning I had a scheduled appointment for Zillah at the vet. She had not been well this past week and I decided to take her in to get checked out. To my surprise The vet ( a very handsome Flemish man called Tom ) decided that she needed to be expressed. I wasn’t even aware that middle-aged dogs needed this, so I was horrified to learn that her glands were as full as they were and even more horified at what he removed. That said - this may have played a role in why Zil was not feeling well. In any case, she definitely needed a bath, and our trip to Holland was somewhat delayed due to a full poodle spa date and blow-out.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Holland over the years and lived there in 1998, mostly in The Hague. Other than my very first visit, it has always been in winter, so I barely remembered what it was like in summer. To my delight the beach was packed with people and activities. The scouting wasn’t particularly fruitful, although we did find a couple of gorgeous girls. I did some reportage work and we had a beer with a dear old friend, Karin, whom I hung out with when I lived in Holland in the 90s. She mentioned that there was an eclipse the following day and that she and her family would all meet on the beach. I thought this would also be a fantastic way to look for new faces, so we decided to drive back to Holland a second day. The weather was great — clear sky, 36 degrees and hot. The eclipse did not disappoint nore did the vibes on the beach !

Eclipse lovers, Scheveningen, Den Haag, Netherlands - Digital on the Canon R5 with a 50mm

A man - reminding we live in a galaxy. Scheveningen, Den Haag, Netherlands - Digital on the Canon R5 with a 50mm

The Eclipse, Scheveningen, Den Haag, Netherlands

De Pier, Scheveningen , Den Haag, Netherlands

Night fall, Scheveningen, Den Haag, Netherlands

I sadly didn’t do any film in Holland, as I was mostly working - and running around with two camera kits is a real drag. The mindsets of film and digital are also so different and I’d rather concentrate on one or the other. Still, the few digitals I did are fine while I was working and experiencing the vibes during the Eclipse & I hope you think so too.

I guess that’s all for now. I hope you like the first look at the newsite. Looking forward to what comes next!

Over & Out

PJHX