Environmental Graffiti

Exploring the Sinister Catacombs of the City of Light

By the light of torches, candles or miners’ lamps, haunting scenes centuries old appear to unfold. Mud-caked galleries, abandoned quarries and even chambers containing human bones throw up their secrets. Consulting maps, self-trained guides lead the way. Others paint murals, throw up graffiti, play music, or even work at opening blocked sections of the Mines. For the diehard, spending days on end here in the catacombs is as normal as a walk in the park.

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Paris Evolving Under the Gaze of Notre Dame’s Gargoyles

They sit perched atop dizzying heights, often unnoticed by human eyes but ever watchful of our movements. They have outlived us by centuries and under their gaze the story of a city's sins and changing face can be told. The gargoyles of the famous Notre Dame Cathedral – half man, half beast – preside over Paris, and have done so since the medieval era. To them, whole generations pass in the blink of a stony eye.

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Remarkable Images of Activism from the Last Fifty Years

Missiles may rain down overhead, water canons blast people back, tear gas choke throats and worse, but when people decide they’ve had enough, they’ve had enough. Many would argue that if ever there was proof that actions speak louder than words, mass protesting is it. Images of individuals taking to the streets have become etched in our minds, each one a remembrance of how people felt about the status quo.

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Ancient Train Wrecks and Steam Engine Pile Ups

Pictures like these hark back to an era when rail transport was the dominant mode of long-distance transport – yet like all technological innovations of their time, locomotives were prone to human and mechanical error. Major derailments and other accidents occurred with alarming frequency during the Industrial Revolution just as they do now – steam seemingly no more a safeguard against mishap than electric power.

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On the Wings of a Dove [PIC]

This beautiful photo was taken on the corner of Buci and Seine in St-Germain-des-Pres, Paris. The photographer Brent Townshend used multiple fisheye lenses and self-written software to stitch the panoramic series of shots together, composing the eye-catching final image. He says that the emergent shape of a dove was planned at the time of photographing.

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