Taking the train to Amsterdam tomorrow, more on that later, but first, a question, you’re brand new in town, these gentlemen invite you over for a free drink. Do you accept?

Corsican sardines, rich in omega-3 and vitamin D, these tiny fish pack a protein punch. I used to hate sardines. Not no more.

No, Antonio Gramsci, in Prison Notebooks, never wrote “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters," there is no mention of 'monsters' in the Italian notes, nor was it Slavoj Žižek paraphrasing Gramsci, but a www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Troupe member of Bill Cody's ("Buffalo Bill") ‘Wild West Show’, holding a souvenir of the Eiffel Tower, at the World Exposition, Paris, 1889. Roland Bonaparte Collections | © Musée du quai Branley-Jacques Chirac

‘ - Alice could have spent decades poring through the archives - but her funding clock could not wait.’ | Katabasis, R.F. Kuang Leica

Self portrait, Martín Chambi, ca. 1930 | © Martin Chambi Archivo Fotografico

Ok, here’s a proof of the 2nd layer, which adapts a broadside published in April of 1854 to warn Black residents of Boston about slave-catchers in the city, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act www.nps.gov/articles/000...

Late night moods, Paris studio.

Birkin in a bag, Frida and fox, exterior of Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, home of the Paris writers and readers club, a special book & gift shop, if you’re in Paris and love books, look it up.

South Africa pulls out of Venice Biennale: ‘Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo’s biennale proposal was scrapped by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in January. (photo by ZUNIS, courtesy Gabrielle Goliath studio)’ hyperallergic.com/south-africa...

“If the assassination of Julius Caesar became a model for the effective removal of a tyrant, it was also a powerful reminder that getting rid of a tyrant did not necessarily dispose of tyranny.” ― Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

I think it’s pretty cool, actually, to live in a collapsing empire. I didn’t even like having bridges or whatever anyway

No tour boats on the Seine, they cannot clear the bridges.

Sorry to read of this but seems indicative of the cold chill setting in on major arts institutions in the western world. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Almost 90 years ago, the Koryo-Saram, living near the Soviet/Korean border, were deported to far away Uzbekistan by Stalin. Culture and languages were lost but a new generation of the 177,000 Koreans in Uzbekistan are Photos © Federico Borella | Leica Fotografie International 2.2026

Studio portrait of Esther Louise Georgette Deer (1891 - 1992), stage name “Princess White Deer”, of Kahnawake, in her stage costume, possibly taken during her cabaret performance tours in Paris (1920s), the trickster on stage liberates herself from stereotypes by adopting them then

"Fear of the present leads to mystification of the past." - John Berger

Alfred Hitchcock, 1973 | Polaroid Andy Warhol Taschen

The real Birkin bag. “I refused to eat in a restaurant where they wouldn’t let me in with my basket.” - Jane Birkin Trinity Mirror

That time Jesse Jackson, at the height of his political importance, visited Kahnawake to give his support to the Mohawk warriors there, during the Oka Crisis.

back in wet, dreary Paris after sunny Corsica, the Seine is so high right now, looking back at archival photos of historic flooding here, the rain keeps falling, and falling,

Ajaccio morning

Heading back to Paris with warm Corsican memories. Compared to Paris, a much more relaxed lifestyle with people down to Earth. Also a good week-long immersive in French, with few speaking English. Ideally, one should know a bit of French or Corsican to get around.

Corsica waves | Leica

The surprisingly modern look of cyclist Gabrielle Etéogella, 1896. "Organizers were sent to Paris to recruit riders, who were provided with free travel to England, discounts on first class rail travel and free hotel accommodation.[5] Adverts may have also been placed for the racers –

Young woman, a troupe member of Bill Cody's 'Buffalo Bill' Wild West Show: collection of Roland Bonaparte, photographed during the Paris World Exposition of 1889, during the show's European tour. © Musée Du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac collections

Sadly, in my time on Corsica, had no sighting of "ghjattu volpe," the rare Corsican "cat-fox,", now recognized as a sub-species, unique to the island. No, they are not cuddly.

Happy Valentines Day...kinda music.youtube.com/watch?v=674K...

Mademoiselle Billaud after winning a cyclocross race. It's the 100th anniversary of this photo, and it still goes harder than anything on the Internet. February 14, 1925 #otd

The exhibition I curated and wrote a book about, 'People of the Watershed. Photographs by John Macfie,' is now on at the Timmins Museum National Exhibition Centre in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, til the end of March. The images capture life in Native communities in northern Ontario, in the 1950/60s.

"Nothing is lost if one has the courage to proclaim that all is lost and we must begin anew." - Julio Cortázar

Corsican morning. ‘It is about how you live your life, because the life you lead is your art and the art you make is your life.’ - Sally Mann

Off season in Ajaccio, not much open, saw life at a place, so I walked in, not just a bar but a gambling place, horse races and men talking loudly, lining up to place bets between races, bartender looked like Luca Brasi, from the Godfather, ordered a beer, sat down, a few looks but passed that test

For many Canadians this may draw a 'meh,' so what, but archives, especially community archives, are a tangible link to collective memory and the past, in the past few years I've witnessed many reserves starting their own archives, photographs and stories, here the cuts will hurt, community...

From ‘Peaux-Rouge (Redskins),’ ethnographer and photographer Paul Coze’s 1931 exhibition in Paris. Shortly after returning from Waterhen River, Saskatchewan, in Canada, he exhibited his photos of Cree people in Paris, establishing his reputation as an ‘Indian

A rose for Jean Seberg. “Love is a provocation; it demands courage and audacity.” ~ Jean Seberg cimetière du Montparnasse

best ambient soundtrack & it’s 24/7 with subtle variations at high & low tide

Ajaccio, Corsica Leica Sofort 2

Now at Timmins, Ontario: Last stop on the Ontario tour - People of the Watershed: Photographs by John Macfie Featuring 100+ powerful images from the 1950s–60s, this exhibition captures life in Anishinaabe, Cree, and Anisininew communities across Northern Ontario and the Hudson’s Bay watershed.

Beyond the physical beauty of the island there’s a toughness here I like, reminds me of Naples maybe, and they face similar stereotypes of family vendettas, mafia control, patriarchy, yet there’s something real here, not bourgeois. Looking forward to time here.

up the volume, let the Mediterranean sooth you

Artist’s studio with a view, Ajaccio, Corsica. The sun 🌞 is so restorative.

Like many other cities, homelessness in Paris is a reality and a political issue, with France’s local elections set for March, and the race for Paris city hall. There are more than 3,500 people living on Paris streets.

“If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution.” ― Emma Goldman

Street art by Nina Van Kidow: ‘I am a French visual artist who works on representations of femininity, particularly in urban spaces. I live and work in the Paris suburbs.’

Reading photographer Lisa Scheynius’s new ‘Diary of an Ending,’ a beautiful mix of photography and words, on love, and loss, passion, sex, longing, creativity, and wounds that scar, brutally and wonderfully honest and bare, like her photography. Translated from the Swedish.

Dana Lixenberg’s iconic portrait of Tupac Shakur, 1993, part of her ‘American Images’ exhibition, opening at MEP – Maison Européenne de la Photographie - Feb. 11, 2026, in Paris.

David McCallum as IIIya Kurakin, The Man from UNCLE, 1964. | Photo: Dennis Hopper Photographs 1961-1967 ~ Dennis Hopper Taschen

keeping the beat on rue de rivoli

Reading Jeanette Winterson on the sunny banks of The Seinne, her ‘Sexing The Cherry,’ set in 17th century London, had a big influence on me, hard to believe that was 37 years ago, somehow we are both still here, chasing time.