Long, empty street, a photo from Basse-Normandie, North

Photographer's Note

Granville is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France. It is situated on the Cotentin Peninsula at the mouth of Bosq and Pointe du Roc (Cap Lihou) which in part closes in the north of the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. Its inhabitants, of which there were 12687 in 1999, are called Granvillais.

The town was founded in 12th century and was taken several times by the English who fortified it in 1437. In 1441, Louis XI granted a charter so that the town once again became French. During the following centuries, Granville was bombarded by the English in 1645 and 1803. Later on, the town resisted the attacks of the Huguenots in 1695 and Vendéan in 1793.

In October 1793 a force of some 25,000 Vendéan troops (followed by thousands of civilians of all ages), commanded by Henri de la Rochejaquelein, headed for the port of Granville where they expected to be greeted by a British fleet and an army of exiled French nobles. Arriving at Granville, they found the walled city surrounded by Republican forces, with no British ships in sight. Their attempts to take the city were unsuccessful. During the retreat the extended columns fell prey to Republican forces. Suffering from hunger and disease, thousands died.

The old town preserves much of the history of its military and religious past. The lower town was partly built on land reclaimed from the sea. The upper part of the old town is surrounded by ramparts dating from the fifteenth century. These are entered through the drawbridge (Grand'Porte), the bloody theatre of the "Siège des Vendéens" in 1793.

Inside the walls of the upper town are some beautiful houses, of which several are concentrated on Rue Saint-Jean. The ancient church of Notre-Dame du Cap Lihou (1441-1796), which dominates the heights, is an imposing granite building in the Romanesque / early Gothic style. It was built by the English during the Hundred Years' War.

Extracted from a much longer and rather disjointed article on Wikipedea.

Map references are approximate only.

Budapestman, jlbrthnn, Graal, Highmountains, delpeoples, delpeoples, saxo042, kathryn_weir, Tigerlily has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Budapestman (82620) 2012-09-03 1:39

Hi Stephen,
a nostalgic and peaceful atmosphere with superb composition, I like the architectural details and the POV, beautiful shot of this place, Tfs! Have a nice week! Kellemes hetet kívánok!
György

batalay (32840) 2012-09-03 2:30

Hello Stephen,

I've frequently wondered how you've so frequently managed these city scenes sans pedestrians, whether you had a photographic crew making sure that the streets are clear of passersby, and that there is a throng behind you. Superb note as usual to give historical perspective to Granville.

Warm regards,

Bulent

timecapturer (30226) 2012-09-03 3:04

Hi Stephen
like this! Superb perspective and lines that entice and intrigue. Wonderful detail and a real sense of character despite the lack of human interference. Beautiful!

Have a good week - regards Brian.

ikeharel (37222) 2012-09-03 3:14

Bonjour Stephen,
Old town alley, sometimes we tend to think they are all the same, but a meticulous eye scrutiny can detect the differences from Italy or Germany in style and/or texture on the edifices.
Good DOF down the road, siesta time maybe?, no people and no vehicles, little vegetation or plants.
Nice taken, on a town we do not get much to see on TE.
Ike

Sergiom (39122) 2012-09-03 4:50

Bonjour Stephen,

Ce doit être assez rare de trouver une rue aussi vide et d'ainsi en profiter. Un bel effet d'entonnoir et de profondeur.

Amicalement

Serge

Fis2 (73032) 2012-09-03 5:23

Witaj Stephen!
Beautiful alley (street).
Good frame and perspective.
I like colors and light.
Excellent work.
Nice afternoon
Krzysztof

Nicou (97543) 2012-09-03 6:08

Hello

quel cpatage de cette rue sueprb eiamge et cpatage, fantastique quel profondeur d'image et rendu sur les facades fantastique cpatage.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

jlbrthnn (79773) 2012-09-03 6:12

Bonjour Stephen,
La rue agréablement peu coudée, est vraiment déserte, mais on profite de l'architecture et du pavage de la rue. La netteté est très bonne, la lumière aussi. Bravo.
Bonne journée
Amicalement
Joël

Silvio1953 (98001) 2012-09-03 6:22

Ciao Stephen, great perspective on lovely alley, wonderful colors, excellent clarity and splenddi light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Graal (88808) 2012-09-03 7:24

Hi Stephen,
I like the calm atmosphere here on the empty street. Fine perspective. Good vertical format and quality. An interesting note, too.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

Royaldevon (17741) 2012-09-03 8:22

Hello Stephen,

I'm amazed that you have been able to capture this pretty conbbled street without other pedestrians. When I was there, it was thronging.
The pov uses the converging lines of the street to create a good guide, whilst the little curve, nicely positioned, adds just a hint of mystery.
Good building details without any distortion.

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

digbymerry (3998) 2012-09-03 9:49

Hello Stephen

I do not mind this street being empty. It helps us to concentrate on the tones, colours, textures and architecture of the buildings which you have captured very well. The lack of sunshine means we have no shadows which always cause me a problem when trying to photograph narrow streets in Southern Spain

williewhistler (7229) 2012-09-03 11:17

Hello Stephen, the interesting architecture of the buildings is surpassed only by your note,lovely clear details in a street with much perspective.
Regards Les.

delpeoples (44900) 2012-09-04 2:03

Salut cher Stephen

What an enchanting town, this narrow little street and its cobblestones are so characteristic and charming. I love the neutral tones and the definition. the vertical frame complements the narrowness of the street and accentuates the marvellous perspective of the wide-angle lens. Excellent job, congrats.

Warm regards
Lisa

dkmurphys (36727) 2012-09-04 2:37

HI Stephen,
Lovely old street. I like to walk on the pavement surrounded by those old bricks and rocks. Well taken scene.

Daniel

dale54 (4918) 2012-09-04 5:11

stephen hi,like this,empty street,gives it a feel all its own,nice lite light,and scene! dr

saxo042 (31792) 2012-09-04 7:45

Hi Stephen,
A very fine street view but remarkably empty. Interesting architecture here and a good note. Maybe I should have cropped away part of the paving stones, but otherwise a very pleasant view.
Kind regards
Gunnar

kathryn_weir (1742) 2012-09-04 10:19

Hello Stephen,
A beautiful and charming street captured in superb detail in your effective perspective shot. The detail in the paving and the stone facades is well demonstrated and the splashes of colour in the planter boxes and the mossy paving are lovely
Thanks for sharing
Regards
Kathryn

thebest (3370) 2012-09-16 6:50

Hi Stephen,

Fabulous shot - really interesting notes - I love the old buildings they are so full of character this street is very nice - I have nothing but praise for this image it truly is wonderful.

Kind regards,
Dawn.

Tigerlily (2339) 2012-09-23 2:59

Hi Stephen,
I like the image.. beautifully taken.. it made me want to walk to the end of the street...to explor further...