Love is in the (freezing )air…

February 14th, 2010

Another Valentine’s Day and another excuse to say I love you to people who matter—in the universal language of poetry and roses…

michele roohani valentine 2010 red envelope

I am in love,

hot heart on snow valentine micheleroohani

with  Italo Calvino but he doesn’t care much about me…I have to dedicate a post to him!

italo calvino michele roohani

“Mon bel amour mon cher amour ma déchirure
Je te porte dans moi comme un oiseau blessé
Et ceux-là sans savoir nous regardent passer
Répétant après moi les mots que j’ai tressés
Et qui pour tes grands yeux tout aussitôt moururent” Aragon

marsano valentine rose heart micheleroohani

Let’s stay in Europe with an Irish poet:

“Her scarf a la Bardot,
In suede flats for the walk,
She came with me one evening
For air and friendly talk.
We crossed the quiet river,
Took the embankment walk.” Seamus Heaney

hot brazilian twins valentine michele roohani red lingerie

Some sexy poetry from the good old English poet:

“The things about you I appreciate
May seem indelicate:
I’d like to find you in the shower
And chase the soap for half an hour.
I’d like to have you in my power
And see your eyes dilate.” John Fuller

sprungli valentine chocolate michele roohani

I wish all of my friends a very sweet Valentine:

sprungli cream rahm valentine micheleroohani

One last poem from Fereydoon Moshiri:

بگذار که بر شاخه این صبح دلاویز
بنشینم و از عشق سرودی بسرایم
آنگاه به صد شوق چو مرغان سبکبال
پر گیرم ازین بام و به سوی تو بیایم
خورشید از آن دور از آن قله پر برف
آغوش کند باز همه مهر همه ناز
سیمرغ طلایی پر و بالی است که چون من
از لانه برون آمده دارد سر پرواز
پرواز به آنجا که نشاط است و امیدست
پرواز به آنجا که سرود است و سرور است
آنجا که سراپای تو در روشنی صبح
رویای شرابی است که در جام بلور است

michele roohani rhinestone red heart ranunculus

“I’d like to be your only audience,

The final name in your appointment book,

Your future tense.”

 michele roohani valentine 2010 pink roses in a stoup

If this wasn’t enough to satisfy your Valentine’s cravings you can see more of Valentine 2009 here and Valentine 2008 here.

To hear all the above poetry read by a great voice go here.

all the flowers in this post are from Marsano in Zurich http://www.marsano.ch

Different shades of white

January 10th, 2010

White is the color of purity, cleanliness, and innocence…or is it? I am surrounded and inspired by it lately and these are my white (ivory, ecru, eggshell, etc…) images:

michele roohani snow heart

I went out to take pictures yesterday; I love the quiet that sits with the snow,

michele roohani snow lindenhof zurich

even when it gets dark early.

snow candle michele roohani

These are my shoes,

michele roohani snow shoe print

and this is not,

white high heel shoe michele roohani

these are LeNôtre’s shoes:

chantilly le notre statue marble  Noel, Edme Antony Paul michele roohani

on more recent creations, this is a white interior,

white interior car michele roohani

and a very expensive exterior,

white bugatti michele roohani

and people who can’t afford it:

amsterdam bike street michele roohani

Four white dogs,

four white poodles mcihele roohani

and some not so white ones,

white toy dogs Anne-Claire Petit michele roohani

a white wedding gown,

baracci wedding gown michele roohani

a much simpler one,

buenos aires wedding gown vitrine michele roohani

and some pretty pearls to go with it,

pearl necklace michele roohani

and a white church to complete it!

notre dame cathedral paris night michele roohani

Some punctual white statues,

gloria_friedmann_louvre michele roohani

and some timeless ones:

capoeirabatuque mestre amen michele roohani

Sunlight flirting with a quiet white curtain,

white curtain shadows michele roohani

in need of music:

white piano keys music michele roohani

to dance the “Swan Lake”,

white swans lake lucerne luzern michele roohani

or some other dance in white pants:

capoeirabatuque mestre amen michele roohani

back in good old California, some white table at the Huntley’s:

huntly santa monica white curtains michele roohani

with some great coffee in white cups,

coffee cups in the sun huntly hotel michele roohani

white on white:

sun worshipper in white bathing suit and hat michele roohani

and San Vicente’s majestic magnolias…

white magnolia san vicente blvd michele roohani

see “my green movement” here

my “red post” here

The Quai Branly Museum presents the second PhotoQuai, the trendsetter biennial event dedicated to non-Western photography until November 22, 2009. Catch it if you can.

I was inspired to create this poster here and the clip at the end of the post:

ahmad ali photoquai iranian green poster paris michele roohani

Some of the images were breathtaking and I would like to share them with you.

abbas kowsari photoquai iranian photography

The above image is from Abbas Kowsari; I call the next one by Gohar Dashti, “tea and tank”!

gohar dashti tea and tank michele roohani photoquai

The Artistic Director of the Photoquai biennial is my friend, Anahita Ghabaian Etehadieh, Iranian founder and owner of the Silk Road Gallery, the only establishment in Iran dedicated exclusively to photography.

anahita ghabaian photoquai 2009 artistic director michele roohani

These two women were photgraphed by Bahman Jalali, one of the two curators of the exhibition:

bahman jalali musician women photoquai michele roohani

More ambitious than the biennial itself, is the homage given to a sample of 165 years of Iranian photography, in the museum. It gives an overview of Iranian photography from the end of the 19th century, with the portraits from the Qajar era, up until the most contemporary works by major Iranian photographers. An uneven, discontinuous road full of great surprises…

qajar women naser el din shah michele roohani photoquai iranian women 19th century

The above photos were taken by Naser Al Din Shah himself, a photography enthusiast, and the following ones are by Armenian-Iranian photographer Antoine-Khan Sevruguin:

photoquai iranian qajar women Antoni Sevruguin michele roohani

I love this shy Tar player:

photoquai iranian photography Antoni Sevruguin tar player michele roohani

The exhibition was especially interesting to me in its depth if not breadth of the older photos. I love these cute children photographed with their father in early 20th century peeking out of their hejab:

photoquai iranian photography family Antoni Sevruguin michele roohani

The  exhibit spills into 20th century with masterpieces like Kaveh Golestan’s images of Iran Iraq war:

kaveh golestan iran iraq war soldier with quran photoquai michele roohani

This visual storytelling will continue in the Musée de la Monnaie, museum of the French Mint and Treasury until December 20th. The exhibition is called “between Hope and Chaos” dedicated to 30 years of Iranian photojournalism, the three most recent generations of Iranian photographers between the 1979 Islamic Revolution and 2009.

I would look for my favorite works exhibited by Newsha Tavakolian:

newsha tavakolian photoquai naghsh rostam snow michele roohani

I prefer this one that I got from her site—there is something otherworldly about Persepolis under snow…

newsha tavakolian persepolis under snow michele roohani

and Jamshid Bayrami’s:

iranian women parying jamshid bayrami michele roohani photoquai

Photoquai tries to highlight and promote artists unknown or little known in Europe encouraging cross-cultural dialogue across the globe.

reza deghati photoquai biennale commissaire de l’exposition pour l’asie micheleroohani

A promenade along the Seine at quai Branly had been transformed into an open-air exhibition of photography where 50 photographers, chosen by the likes of Reza Deghati, the phenomenal Iranian photographer, exhibit their work.


Watch a great clip in TV5 here (even if you don’t speak french!)

165 years of Iranian photography here

PhotoQuai, Quai Branly Museum here

Iran, between Hope and Chaos here

Iran may be United States’ best/only ally in the hellish war of the tribal belt region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

tribal belt iran afghanistan pakistan micheleroohani

An ignorant approach to the Afghan realities and the “benevolent negligence” regarding Pakistan will have more dire consequences for the U.S. and the schizophrenic government of Iran (saddled by Iraq and Afghanistan’s unrest on both sides) may be a necessary ally in the necessary war…The Islamic Republic will do anything  to avoid facing up to the “enemy within” (aka millions of unhappy/angry Iranians)

pakistan afghanistan tribal belt map micheleroohani

Look at the map of the world’s most dangerous place; most of the 4,000,000 Pashtuns who live in the tribal belt between Afghanistan and Pakistan refuse to recognize the British-drawn Durand Line, which divides the two nations and splits families. Afghanistan, the fifth poorest country in the world with a life expectancy of 44 is deservedly called the “graveyard of empires”. It has been in a civil war in the past three decades.

exodus from afghanistan 1990 reza deghati michele roohani

The above picture, Exodus from Afghanistan,  from the formidable photojournalist Reza Deghati has haunted me for years—the silence of this cold journey moves me deeply. I almost forget the picture was taken just twenty years ago; “Time” has indeed suspended its flight in this  godforsaken country…

the old wise man reza deghati afghanistan 1983 michele roohani

I met Reza in Paris last month at the opening of the exquisite exhibition (organized by my friend Anahita Ghabaian) of 165 year of Iranian Photography at the Quai Branly Museum. Stay tuned for next week’s post about PhotoQuai.

I was once again impressed by Reza,  the great master photographer. We talked about his humanitarian work at Aina, a media & Culture center in Afghanistan. His extraordinary talent deserves a post all to itself—I became a fan years ago thanks to his National geographic’s photos like this one:

reza deghati national geographic dervish 1993 turkey micheleroohani

Only a few months ago, the Pakistani military was still inclined to view the Taliban as agents of influence able to provide their government with help to contain the Afghanistan in the west as it confronted India to the east. As Roger Cohen puts it: “the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing—the result is self-amputation. Even Pakistan’s competent General Kayani, noted for his patience, diligence, intelligence and sheer determination, may be doing the wrong move in the right direction, too little too late.

Today’s news that Abdullah Abdullah has pulled out of the Afghanistan’s runoff election exasperated me even more; I can’t believe his official explanation for doing so but as Churchill says:

“in wartime, Truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of Lies”

and Afghanistan is deeply at war…

Take a look at Reza’s Webistan here.

Visit Aina here.

Visit the PhotQuai here. (click on “honoring Iranian Photography” to see some great photos)

Irving Penn, a master of American portraiture and fashion photography has always intrigued me by using the same sober backgrounds to photograph most of his subjects—beautiful Vogue models (like his wife of 42 years, Lisa Fonssagrives, below) or these seriously covered Moroccan women.

Lisa Fonssagrives irving penn michele roohani long roses

This 1971 image of these three Rissani women buried in their hejab (body bag) is haunting; just looking at them oppresses me…

1971 irving penn rissani women micheleroohani oppression body bag

But it seems that Penn had an affinity for all sorts of veiled women like the spellbinding Jean Patchett in this picture from 1949:

jean pachett irving penn 1949 michele roohani blue veil

He’s been able to capture the absurdity of covering women from head to toe,

irving penn two guedras women get weary michele roohani

even though he’s known for photographing the most fashionable women in the world :

irving penn checkered dress michele roohani Lisa Fonssagrives black hat

His fashion images are iconic in their elegant simplicity:

Lisa Fonssagrives irving penn michele roohani black hat

and so are these other pictures of his:

cretan women 1964 irving penn michele roohani

He remains a keen observer of his subject, a quiet painter of his model, an attentive chronicler of his time—this is probably the most accurate picture of Colette at that age:

irving penn colette sido michele roohani

and the most natural portrait that I know of Simone de Beauvoir:

irving penn simone de beauvoir michele roohani

Sometimes they chose to cover their hair like Georgia O’Keeffe:

georgia o’keeffe poppies irving penn micheleroohani

Penn kept taking less serious pictures of yet other covered woman:

irving penn veiled women michleroohani ruffled hat

Throughout centuries, women have survived  ridiculous hats and oppressive veils and Irving Penn has been present to capture them all.

pink wine irving penn michele roohani

I finish with a quote from my favorite aesthete, Oscar Wilde : “I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china”.

In Los Angeles, there is an exhibition of Irving Penn’s photographs at the Getty Museum.

A great article about Penn here.

A very scary Veiling dictionary (including Abaya—the one that looks like Belphégor) here.


Budapest, the neglected beauty on the Danube, is a city of friendly people, opulent buildings, golden domes, thermal baths and opera.

Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river with a unification on 1873 of right-bank Buda and with left-bank Pest.

new york palace cafe budapest michele roohani

A foreign city robs you of your prejudices about different neighborhoods—you look at everything with fresh virgin eyes.

Let’s start by my posh, but relatively inexpensive, hotel room and its great view:

new york palace hotel room budapest michele roohani

grand cafés everywhere,

budapest cafe callas michele roohani terrace

like the Callas :

callas budapest michele roohani brasserie

The Hungarians are Opera-crazy and they have their elegant Opera Houses to show it:

opera budapest michele roohani

There are plenty of beautiful Hungarian girls,

pretty hungarian girl budapest michele roohani

and boys:

budapest hungarian waiter michele roohani

and very proud ones at that: The Heroes’ Square welcomes you with seven Magyar chieftains (Magyar: Hungary) who led the Hungarian people in their proud history; I highlighted a couple that I liked best:

michele roohani hungarian chieftains hero’s square Hősök tere budapest

Now we’ll take the Budapest metro—super efficient and easy to use— to go places.

budapest metro michele roohani

Like a good muslim, I first went to visit the great Saint Stephen Basilica:

saint stephen basilica budapest michele roohani

the madonna looks friendlier in orthodox churches—somehow less aloof, more human…

madonna saint stephen basilica budapest michele roohani

In spite of all the gold in the public places, Budapest has its share of run-down buildings,

budapest run down building michele roohani

this huge metropolis is not as pretty as her smaller sister city, Prague,

budapest telamones statues michele roohani

but is as rich in history and as breathtaking in sights:

budapest danube panorama michele roohani

the sunset on the Danube is majestic:

buda castle sunset budapest michele roohani

Again as a good Shiite who does believe in Holocaust,  I went to visit the Dohany street Synagogue of Budapest, the world’s second largest that caters to a mix of Orthodox and Reformed Judaism unique to Hungary:

Budapest Great Synagogue exterior michele roohani

in spite of its Byzantine Moorish style, the similarities between this synagogue and a grand church are striking: there is an organ (Franz Liszt played on it once),

Budapest Great Synagogue interior chandelier michele roohani

and even pulpits!

dohany synagogue budapest pulpit michele roohani

In the Jewish quarter,  you are constantly reminded of the Nazis’ atrocities:

Budapest Great Synagogue michele roohani 1944 nazis

Budapest is known for its 80 geothermal springs but I didn’t have the courage to accompany my friends to these pools in Szechenyi bath:

Szechenyi bath budapest michele roohani

the Fine Art Museum was more pressing but that should wait for another post; the Hungarian parliament deserves a post all to itself as well.

If you want to stay in great affordable hotels in a great cosmopolitan European city, go to Budapest (or ask my friend, Reyhaneh, who is a champion in finding great deals!)

hotel bolosco new york palace budapest lobby michele roohani

I leave you with this quote: “The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget” and “Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence” by Thomas Szasz.

hotel bolosco new york palace budapest room michele roohani

p.s.  I am not writing about food because the only good meal I had worth writing home about was with my favorite Hungarian,  Professor Ungvari, at Remiz.

My green movement

August 25th, 2009

Abundant in nature, the color Green is Life and it represents peace, growth, renewal, health and serenity to me.

Thomas Wilmer Dewing the lute freer museum michele roohani

Dewing’s women are sublime in this chartreuse mist…

I like all shades of green:  lime, emerald, mint, sage, etc…Here are some fresh strawberry leaves in my backyard,

strawberry flowers michele roohani

the elegant magnolia tree in my street,

white majestic magnolia michele roohani san vicente boulevard

the green shadow of this fuschia flower,

fuschia flower shadow michele roohani

tired shoes on a shawl,

shoes and purse on green shawl micheleroohani

my green room,

my green room brentwood michele roohani

two fish on this 11th century Persian ceramic,

persian ceramic musee dsevres 11th century two fish micheleroohani

and two naughty fish hiding under the water lilies:

water lilies carps huntington pond michele roohani

and one fish on this green door,

green door with brass carp handle michele roohani

a mean tequila shot with some limes:

lime green tequila glass michele roohani

a way gentler one,

green martini michele roohani

I like the green man thinking,

rodin thinker penseur michele roohani paris

and these beautiful women holding lights:

torchere lucinda opera michele roohani

Shakespeare smiling behind a green fountain,

shakespear and co paris michele roohani wallace fountain

the lonely bike waiting,

green bike dusseldorf michele roohani

my favorite tree (sycamore) leaves,

sycamore tree leaves michele roohani

and least favorite, succulent plants.

succulent plants michele roohani

How about these smart water plants who lure the beetles with food inside at 8 pm and eat them at 12 am?

beetle trapping water plants huntington garden michele roohani

Even coffee tastes better in a green atmosphere as Starbucks understood long ago:

four coffee cups michele roohani

A green bottle with a red soul:

green bottle red wine graves camembert michele roohani

I have more pictures of trees than anything else in my archives; there is a quiet majesty about a tree that has always stopped me in my daily hustle; this one is looking in the mirror:

tree reflection chantilly garden michele roohani

a green Buddha,

green buddha beads michele roohani

an exquisite Delahaye ,

green delahaye antic car michele roohani

Green luck,

craps game michele roohani

green food,

green vegetables michele roohani

beautiful narcissus,

paperwhite narcissus michele roohani

last but not least, green hope…

iran green movement sheikhi

“من چه سبزم امروز و چه اندازه تنم هشیار است…”

“How green am I today
And how alert is my body”

“Que je suis verdoyant,
Et qu’il est alerte mon corps”

Sohrab Sepehri

p.s. all pictures but the last one are from my personal archives.

This is a small clip I made of these images with the beautiful “THIS” song of Brian Eno:

I always thought that a woman out of a Persian Miniature will be known as the Iranian Marianne—maybe something like this dreamy painting by Farah Ossouli:

farah ossouli adam and eve painting three angels watching michele roohani

or the ageless super model, Yasmin Parvaneh (picture on the left) or her daughter Amber Le Bon (on the right):

yasmin parvaneh amber le bon michele roohani persian

It could have been one of the young beautiful movie stars or myriads of miscellaneous beauty queens or even one of these two who represent the separate worlds of today’s Iranian women:

iranian women worlds apart

Little did we know that an unknown young woman, Neda Agha Soltan, killed ruthlessly in the Iranian election protests last month would be the face of the Persian woman to the world…

jacques brinon AP neda iranian protests

Neda was a “casualty” of the conflict; she gave a face to the faceless victims. May she not have been killed in vain…

melvin sokolsky twiggy masks michele roohani

I am sure Melvin Sokolsky doesn’t mind the great Reza being inspired by him in making the Neda masks.

Scarlet, crimson, red

July 13th, 2009

Red—no matter what other name you call it by— is the color of  passion, anger, courage, sacrifice, warning, fire, sin, revolution, love, power, etc…

red cards michele roohani joker playing cards

red is my favorite color and these are some samples of my reds; let’s start with a red heart or a scarlet letter:

red heart giacometti michele roohani

red tomatoes,

red cherry tomatoes basque ham michele roohani

red fish,

red caper fish swan michele roohani

red Persian rug,

red persian rug micheleroohani

red literature,

red fernando pessoa michele roohani book of disquiet

a red fountain pen,

red fountain pen michele roohani

and a red pencil,

coloring pencils argentina mcihele roohani

red lips,

red lips marylin monroe michele roohani

a hot red car,

red hot car michele roohani

another hot red car,

red smart car merecedes michele roohani

an aspiring red rose,

red white rose michele roohani

and a real red rose,

red rose in a black cup micheleroohani

lovelorn poppies,

red poppies michele roohani loire france

red peppers,

red peppers michele roohani

high calorie red,

red ribbon bran muffin michele roohani

a small red door,

red door amsterdam michele roohani

and a slightly bigger one!

strasbourg cathedral red door michele roohani

the fabulous Miss Wendy:

red miss pink michele roohani guitar musician

Los Angeles’ red light district,

red traffic lights los angeles michele roohani

red beads,

red beads michele roohani

wine is one of my favorite reds,

 red wine michele roohani bottles painting

red steps in Prague,

red steps stairs michele roohani prague

and red steps in Buenos Aires,

red tango dancers michele roohani buenos aires

a disobedient red strawberry shortcake,

red strawberry shortcake michele roohani argentina

and a red blog…

red blog michele roohani

and this is the end of my Red post.

It’s been two years since I started this blog and I just have to make this post fabulous…I’ve been wanting to write about the new Kindle for a while but I have felt guilty towards books!

duby feodalite figurine michele roohani

As many of you know I am a shameless bibliophile but  even though I am a rather “early adapter” of new technologies, buying a Kindle has not been a priority (you can carry a big chunk of your library—1500 books— and the neighborhood’s news stand in one Kindle).

lionheart coeur de lion book michele roohani

I am tactile and love touching books and feeling the pages, the type, smelling the paper, the ink, etc…this little soldier guards my books valiantly!

knight books chevalier michele roohani

This one—Herman Hess’ Narcissus and Goldmund— was one of my favorites and I have read it in three languages during the past 30 years (talking about obsession!) and I can’t imagine getting the same pleasure from reading it on Kindle…

herman hesse Narcissus and Goldmund michele roohani

Could I have appreciated Jean Michel Maulpoix’s poetry without his signature blue covers? No paper?

jean michel maulpoix michele roohani l’instinct du ciel

Would he have wanted to be read on a gadget? Knowing him, I would say non!

“Blue makes no noise. It is a timid color, without ulterior motives, forewarning or plan; it does not leap out at the eye like yellow or red do, but rather draws it in, taming it little by little, letting it come unhurriedly, so that it sinks in and drowns in it, unaware.”

maulpoix books livre une histoire de bleu michele roohani

I can read Lukacs or Gopnick on a Kindle but not the Shahnameh (even writing about it is sacrilegious). One of my favorite blog posts is the one I wrote about this passion of mine.

napoleon john lukacs borges michele roohani

I audited a bookbinding course on my last trip to europe and was pleasantly surprised to see that this beautiful art is not dead.

bookbinding press leliure michele roohani

people in the atelier were restoring old books—resewing the pages, making new covers, etc—with a lot of love, attention and reverence. These fonts were for leather book jackets:

font bookbinding police reliure michele roohani

Is Amazon.com cannibalizing its own industry? They are the makers of Kindle.

bookbinding jargons michele roohani

I have to admit that  even I would love to have all the newspapers I read daily, on one gadget. The gadget that carries most of my books to choose from on a trip; I guess all I am saying is that it’s very hard to read poetry on a machine—wouldn’t these beautiful poems feel/sound better on paper?

i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

e.e. cummings


fernando pessoa book of disquiet livre de l’intranquillité michele roohani

“Parfois je me fais presque honte
De croire autant ce que je ne crois pas.
C’est une variété de rêve
Avec le réel au milieu.” Fernando Pessoa

 

Thank you all for the kind comments and support through these past two years.

michele roohani narcissus thank you card

Revisit my post on books here.

A book is a present we keep opening—again and again…