An Evening Star

“May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true…”
(From “May It Be” by Ryan & Rachel O’Donnell)

Nicaise is wrapped in a woolen scarf with a red Aari embroidery.
(Scarf style “Jaisalmer” – Col. Chocolate/Crimson – 200×70 – 100% Wool – Collection RED HALO)

The iconic French actress and model Nicaise Jean-Louis has kindly accepted to pose for Red Halo in order to support our social work.
During the 70’s Nicaise became one of the first top models with dark skin complexion to work for High Fashion companies, ever since she never stopped working for the most prestigious fashion names, she also performed on stage and played is several iconic movies such as “Moonraker” (a Bond girl) or the well known French movie “Le gendarme et les gendarmettes” (Yo Macumba).
For the anecdote Nicaise was born in the French Caribbean island Guadeloupe and she has Indian ancestors as her grandmother was from Pondicherry.
You may join Nicaise’s page at www.facebook.com/nicaise.lemoine

RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people living with difficulties and education to children.
“Like” the RED HALO page on Facebook and join this amazing human adventure in Varanasi,www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

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The Iconic Nicaise

“First there was the dream, now there is reality.
Here, in the untainted cradle of the heavens, will be created a new super race, a race of perfect physical specimens.
You have been selected as its progenitors; like Gods, your offspring will return to Earth and shape it in their image.
You have all served in public capacities in my terrestrial empire.
Your seed, like yourselves, will pay deference to the ultimate dynasty which I alone have created.
From their first day on Earth they will be able to look up and know that there is law and order in the heavens.”
(Hugo Drax / Michael Lonsdale in Moonraker ,1979)

This is a portrait of my friend Nicaise.
Nicaise Jean-Louis is a French actress and model, known for being a Bond girl in the movie “Moonraker” and for being Yo Macumba in the iconic French movie “Le gendarme et les gendarmettes”.
During the 70’s she became one of the first top models with dark skin complexion to work for High Fashion companies.
It was after Madame Carven met her in Guadeloupe, the French Caribbean island, and gave her a chance to come to Paris.
Since that time Nicaise never stopped working for the most prestigious fashion companies, she also played is several iconic movies and performed on stage.
Nicaise was the first model I worked with, it was at Carven during the 80’s, I was a young designer and beginner then.
Ever since I asked her to model for all collections I did in each companies I was, I even made her strut down the catwalk with her daughter for Burberry’s…
For the anecdote my Indian friends will be happy to know that Nicaise has Indian ancestors as her grandmother was from Pondicherry.

Last week-end the industry celebrated the 35th anniversary of “Moonraker” and Nicaise is going on a long world tour to meet her fans.
It was an opportunity to make this portrait and to ask her to pose for Red Halo.

You may join Nicaise’s page at www.facebook.com/nicaise.lemoine

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Head of Hair

“O fleecy hair, falling in curls to the shoulders!
O black locks! O perfume laden with nonchalance!
Ecstasy! To people the dark alcove tonight
With memories sleeping in that thick head of hair.
I would like to shake it in the air like a scarf!

Sweltering Africa and languorous Asia,
A whole far-away world, absent, almost defunct,
Dwells in your depths, aromatic forest!
While other spirits glide on the wings of music,
Mine, O my love! floats upon your perfume…”

These words are the beginning of “La Chevelure” a poem by French poet Charles Baudelaire from “Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil)” published in 1851.
This is a link to the original poem in French with several translations in English,
fleursdumal.org/poem/203

This picture was shot along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
After taking a bath in the holy waters, this lady was styling her long white hair under the sun.
She was old, beautiful, graceful and bearing the quintessence of femininity.
This is why Baudelaire’s words came to me quite naturally as he was the base of my educational journey when I was a teenager…

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Everlasting Beauty

“It`s not how old you are, it`s how you are old.”
(Jules Renard – French author, 1864–1910)

This lady came from South India in order to worship the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
After taking a bath in the holy waters, she was styling her long white hair under the sun.
The quintessence of femininity was visible through her graceful gestures…she was beautiful…

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The Good Life

“There is a special spirit among people who call themselves Banarsis, whether they are rickshaw-pullers, merchants in the market, or the old aristocracy.
It is an art of living, both passionate and carefree.
They call it masti (“joie de vivre”), mauj (“delight, festivity”), and phakkarpan (“carefreeness”).
It is the exhilaration and drunkenness of Holi, the extravagance and culture of Burhwa Mangal, and the glitter of Divali.
It is enjoyment of life without ostentation…”
(From “Banaras, City of Light” by Dianan L. Eck)

These ladies were bargaining religious accessories sold in front of the Swami Narayan Mandir (temple) in Varanasi (Benaras).

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Bette Davis Eyes

“…She’ll expose you, when she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She’s ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a crow blush
All the boys think she’s a spy
She’s got Bette Davis eyes…”
(From “Bette Davis Eyes” by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon)

Those people bargaining religious accessories in front of the Swami Narayan Mandir (temple) in Varanasi (Benaras) caught my attention and especially the lady wearing the yellow sari who had a few expressions reminding me of Bette Davis…

This is a link to an amazing version of this song by Karen Souza, youtu.be/ydTzfPBw_tY

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A Solitary Tear

“The Taj Mahal rises above the banks of the river like a solitary tear suspended on the cheek of time.”
(Rabindranath Tagore – Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist. Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, 1861-1941)

There is nothing left to take away to this solitary tear which reflects on the Yamuna river.
In this cruel and imperfect world, the Taj is the proof that Love can still create perfection…”Dilruba”…

For all the Taj Mahal lovers, this is the new commercial by Guerlain for “Shalimar”, the unforgettable scent since the 20’s…
youtu.be/vL6XJw8Oe5M

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Traversing Sensuality

“The body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
Always an orchestra, and just as music traverses walls, so sensuality traverses the body and reaches up to ecstasy.”
(From “The Diary Of Anais Nin, Volume Two (1934-1939)” by Anaïs Nin)

This apsara (celestial nymph) was sculpted during the 8th century AD by the Ganga Pratihara School and is coming from Etah in Uttar Pradesh before resting in the Bharat Kala Bhavan, the Art and Archaeological Museum of Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi (Benaras).

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Beautiful in my eyes

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
(Confucius – Chinese teacher, politician, and philosopher, 551 BC-479 BC)

This teenager belongs to a dhobi wallah’s family, I met her a few days ago near Rani ghat along the Ganges where she was helping her brother with some laundry.
She was happy and I found that she was beautiful.
I made several portraits which she enjoyed to see on the screen of my camera.
Today only I realize after watching those pictures on my computer that she had a skin disease covering all her face and body but I decided to remove it and to show her the way my eyes saw her for the first time…

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Ticket To Success

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“Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same.”
(Audrey Hepburn – British actress and humanitarian, 1929–1993)

This is a recent portrait of my childhood friend and “soul sister” Valerie in order to celebrate her
birthday.
It is funny that she is sharing this day with my brother Manish, maybe those things don’t come by chance…
During all our lives we kept on supporting each other with pride and no judgment like brother and sister do.
Time goes by and nothing changes between us.
Valérie is an author, director and filmaker based in Hollywood.

(This year is YOUR year where you’ll be enjoying a well-deserved success…Joyeux Anniversaire…Love you…!!!)

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