Ancient and modern meet at Chartres

During the summer months as the sun goes down around 10pm an extraordinary light display can be seen on various monuments around Chartres, not less than the famous cathedral itself.

Welcome to the world of scenography. It's not new and occurs in many places around the world but finally I had the chance to photograph an impressive one.

I wandered around Chartres which was in full summer entertainment mode. This evening it was latin music and dance. The music performances were not inspiring to me and I soon became bored and uncomfortable standing there. With the same old band playing and no real costumes on show it couldn't hold my attention more than a few minutes.



 Casting around for something more interesting I started to explore the summer evening streets, watching residents and tourists alike enjoying the cafes and bars. friendly company, interesting shop windows. Ancient carriageways with original beams and dark crevices whispered to be explored. Ah, the stories those massive old doors could tell, I'm sure.




It was too late in the evening to see the splendid view over the Eure valley and Chartres but just right to watch the lights come on the cathedral and the repeating scenography display on two façades of massive Chartres cathedral which is more than a thousand years old. Each façade has it's own light display. The one on the main face moves most imaginatively and at night without a tripod it's hard to capture the beauty of this, so I practised taking a short video, equally a challenge.


Here's the display on the north portal. I've created my own YouTube channel (To the Ends of the Earth) to make viewing easier. Let me know if you have any problems viewing the video of the main facade. http://youtu.be/BO31XEo6xX4
Here's the longer official version  Chartres 2012

Eventually I'd like to produce videoblogs but that's a ways off yet. I need to seriously master equipment and technology first.