The Old Pump Wheel Photo

Photographer’s Note

Last in a short series of pictures from the small town of Saint-Macaire, which is in the département of the Gironde and the Aquitaine region of South West France. Its inhabitants are called Macariens.

The municipality of Saint-Macaire, of which the town is a part is on the right bank of the Garonne, about 50 kilometres south-east of Bordeaux where the river ceases to be tidal. The municipality is fairly small since it barely covers 179 hectares. Outside the town of Saint-Macaire itself, there is small area consisting mostly of vineyards to the north and west of the town' with fields and woods to the south, especially near the river. The wine business, which is the main agricultural activity in the area, produces a sweet white AOC wine known as "Côtes de Bordeaux Saint-Macaire."

The town itself is built on a rocky promontory overlooking the surrounding alluvial plain by about thirty meters. It consists of two entities: the old walled town or Cité to the south and the new town, which was mainly developed to the north of the old part. At one time the walls of the town stood next to the Garonne, but the river has moved some 250 metres to the south over the course of the centuries. The old town is semi-hemispherical in shape, concentrated around the church of Saint-Sauveur, the former priory and the site of the old castle (now destroyed). Surrounded by ramparts, it is flanked by two suburbs, which appeared during the Middle Ages and which took advantage of the protection offered by the walls: Thuron (east) and Rendesse (west).

The name of the town is derived from the Greek "Makarios". Makarios was a monk who came to evangelize the Aquitaine on the order of St. Martin of Tours in the company of Cassien and Victor. He died in the early fifth century in the city of Ligen, which in antiquity was located on the opposite bank of the Garonne, but for which no remains have been located.

The above information has been extracted and freely translated from an extensive article about Saint-Macaire on the French Wikipedea site. For those who are interested, here is a link: to the article.

ChrisJ, trekks, robjol, papagolf21, besnard, dta, gunbud, amaryllis has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ChrisJ (70521) 2009-02-26 0:45

Hi Stephen

Nice find of the pinwheel shaped pump wheel, with good colour, sharpness, & framing. The peeling red paint contrasts well against the blue sky. Merci et amities!

Buin (38600) 2009-02-26 1:04

Hallo Stephen!
An excellent and eyecatching picture - even as a thumbnail! Isn't it wonderful that this actually trivial "article of daily use" is such a beautiful thing!? In combination with your - as always - excellent note a good contribution here!
Greetings from rainy and grey Germany!
Frank

rodgerg (25535) 2009-02-26 1:23

Bonjour Stephen,

Excellente idée d'avoir choisi cette vieille pompe comme avant-plan. Elle est en effet très belle avec ses couleurs un peu passées et donne une belle profondeur à ta photo.
Amitiés,
Roger

trekks (14336) 2009-02-26 1:43

hi Stephen

The red color and the pattern of the S inside the circle is a good impression for this POV. You presented the pump wheel in the great way that I can imagine to make it stand out so strongly in this capture.

tfs, bill

robjol (2091) 2009-02-26 1:52

Hello Stephen,
A simple wheel, yet it has served the small town well. Probably taken for granted, "it has always been there".
It is a good photo, contrasting colours with sharp focus.
Lot of time spent on your notes.

Regards
Robert

papagolf21 (57015) 2009-02-26 1:55

Bonjour, cher Stephen,
Bravo pour cette très bonne photographie présentant une vieille fontaine publique.
De plus, cette fontaine est très rare avec son mode de fonctionnement.
Merci de nous faire découvrir des trésors cachés dans des petits villages de France.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Nicou (46211) 2009-02-26 1:55

Hello,

Génaile cette vielle pompe, quel bel objet , tout vieux avec ce rond et se barres au milieu qui forment un très beau graphisme, superbe.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

Gerrit (36553) 2009-02-26 1:57

Hi Stephen,
a beauty. I like the two colored weathering.
Regards, Gerrit

besnard (31348) 2009-02-26 2:02

Bonjour Stephen
Un cliché en vision rapprochée sur cette vieille roue intéressante, elle en aurait des choses à raconter.
Merci pour le partage et bonne journée.
Nicole

dta (6582) 2009-02-26 2:23

Bonjour Stephen ,
Un bel objet typique de nos villages , et d'une grande efficacité , avec le volant d'inertie (j'ai essayé) .
Peut être aurait il fallu centré le volant . Mais c'est un détail minime , et l'image est belle .
Amitiés .

delpeoples (7008) 2009-02-26 3:05

Hi Stephen, this is such a beautiful capture of something I would probably walk past and not even notice. The red hydrant is so striking and sharp it jumps out at you, particularly given the shallow DOF. I like how the BG is blurred - something you don't often see on this website. Inclusion of the old street lamp in the BG gives even more character to the shot. Well done, Lisa.

wolf38 (13159) 2009-02-26 3:06

Hello Stephen. The multicolored wheel in the center. Only on the second view one sees the function. I saw still another pump with wheel. A good and instructive shot. Best regards, Wolfgang.

omerozden (1241) 2009-02-26 4:51

hello stephen,
objects are part of life.sometimes we see some objects removed from our lives but were used up to 40-50 years ago. i like this object with the old beautiful paint. personally i would prefer to see it on a less visible BG. your version is good as it informs us about the town in general.
warm regards,
omer

Fis2 (46713) 2009-02-26 7:07

Witaj Stephen!
Very interesting object.
Good vertical frame and colors.
I like antiques of techniques.
Well done.
Regards
Krzysztof

gunbud (28295) 2009-02-26 16:26

Hi Stephen,
The old pump wheel really stands out wonderfully in this tight vertical format.
The details of this old village antique a striking in the warm light and the muted background adds excellent depth to this lovely composition.
Regards, Tom

amaryllis (17998) 2009-02-26 23:23

Bonjour Stephen
tu as eu la mêm idée que moi, car j'avais trouvé un peu le même gente mais je ne l'ai pas prise; mais j'ai de la chance au travers de TE de voir cette ancienne pompe aux couleurs passées mais on arrive encore à en trouver; les vestiges du passé
une belle capture
merci de ce superbe cadrage sur cette pompe
juliette

batalay (21416) 2009-02-27 20:00

Hello Stephen,

You need only to observe and ponder, and the commonplace becomes wondrous, and the wondrous commonplace. I love the spirals formed within the circular faucet handle, I believe. for a water hydrant!?! Informative note, many thanks.

Have a good weekend, Stephen.

Bulent

Focales (514) 2009-05-03 2:21

Hi Stephen
Tu as su shooter une belle pompe, objet que l'on trouve de plus en plus rarement, hélas, dans nos villages. Et pourtant elles furent utiles durant des centaines d'années et souvent très belles, comme l'est celle-ci.