Glimpses of red

 

 

You may remember my ROY G BIV-inspired posts in the past. The challenge—begun by artists Jennifer Coyne Qudeen & Julie Booth in 2012—has begun once again, with RED. I am still sifting through my Sydney images/impressions, and feeling behind with blog posting & blog visiting, but what better motivation to say hello & happy 2014!

I must admit that the light (or lack of it, rather) hasn't inspired me to do much photographing since I've been back, but as I walked home from the post office the other day I passed an installation that appeared in Florence a few months ago & thought, "ah, red—perfect for this month's ROY G BIV!" I managed only a few blurry, dim shots in the pre-dusk drizzle, so returned to Vicolo dell'Oro today to try again. While the sky was an uninspiring white—an invitation for overexposure—I suppose the best you could say is that the red bits on the bicycles stood out all the more. Part of a series of cycling-related pieces created in honor of the Mondiali di Ciclismo (UCI Road World Championship) last fall, these 22 sky-bound bicycles scaling one wall of the Gallery Hotel Art have certainly been catching the attention of passers-by.

Below is another piece from the installation: two bicycles parked upon a giant 'hand'-mirror. The red Leica signs continued the theme of RED...

And another unofficial red-themed 'installation', which is in fact city-wide (and starting to reach beyond Italy), also has a presence in this little corner of Florence. In the last few years, French artist Clet has added a new facet to his work: a series of fairly discreet stickers that he places on street signs, rendering them quite whimsical while retaining (or perhaps you could even say, in some cases, drawing more attention to) their original purpose. His studio can be found in the little neighborhood of San Niccolò, by the church. Below are two of the stickered signs marking either end of the short street with the bicycle art.

 

I was impressed by how many shots of red—really quite necessary to these gloomy gray days, when you think about it!—I noticed on my short walk back home...just one of the effects/benefits of participating in ROY G BIV.

Guidelines for the ROY G BIV challenge are here if you'd like to play along in future;

February's color will be ORANGE (followed by YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE & so on).