Holocaust Memorial, Berlin

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © John McDermott
The monument for the murdered Jews of Europe.

A field of naked gray monoliths, each of a different size, to remember the crimes of the Third Reich, less than a lifetime ago. The 2,711 concrete slabs to honour the 6,000,000 murdered Jews before and during World War II are a powerful statement in the heart of Berlin, close to the Reichstag building and Adolf Hitler's buried bunker. A monument which deserves to stand for eternity.

Goal!

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © John McDermott
How to capture the instant?

Nobody knows it better than John McDermott, by talent and by choice a sports photographer. His travels around the world have also brought some great sidelines photos, away from stadiums but always close to people. 250Words has benefited from several of them, from San Francisco to Burma. This photo of two boys practicing penalty kicks with the "moyens du bord" was taken in Marrakech, Morocco. A video from Apple, about his use of Aperture, gives us an insight about his photography.

Free and unrestricted exchange of information

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © John McDermott
These photos don't lie.

They hit you in the guts.

They are the best of photo journalism.

Every year, following the annual World Press Photo Contest, the winning images go on a world tour. After the prize-giving ceremony and the opening in Amsterdam, the World Press Photo Exhibition travels to 80 cities. Shown now at the Oude Kerk, the Old Church, in Amsterdam, and twelve other cities, these photos are too honest to ignore. Such as Tim Hetherington's World Press Photo of the year of an exhausted American soldier resting in a Korengal Valley's bunker, in Afghanistan, last September.

Theory of Evolution

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © BMW/MiniEvolution is a fact. Just look at this Mini in Madrid, Spain.

Born in 1959, as a British Motor Corporation car, the Mini is the living proof that Darwin was right. At the time, it was an evolution from a need, small is beautiful. Now, it is an evolution from a threat, global warming. With a touch of class. Let's take, for instance, the new Clubman, the Estate version of the Mini. In 1960, BMC added a station wagon to its line-up, for evolution commanded it. Built on a longer wheelbase, it came as either the Austin Seven Countryman or the Morris Mini Minor Traveller, twins of the same species. Now, almost fifty years later, the latest outcome is the Mini Clubman. Socially irrepressible baby boomers and socially responsible young mothers already love it, at 30 miles plus per gallon. Nobody could have created such a car from scratch. From BMC to BMW.

Mothers and daughters

Photos © John McDermott (Amsterdam)
& Jacques Gauchey (Zhuhai)amsterdam, The Netherlands

zhuhai, China








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main Street, U.S.A.

Canals

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © John McDermottThe intimacy of canals.

Canals are the G-strings of geography. They slice through our world's body beautiful. The Suez canal, the Kiel canal, or the Panama canal are forever in our dream cruise destinations. So are smaller canals. Their pastoral, urban and even industrial beauty, from the superb European networks to the North American's Erie or Venice canals. Or this canal in Amsterdam, a metaphorical reminder that slow pace and "not convenient" is OK.

In Burma

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © John McDermottLast February, two friends of mine went to Burma.

John McDermott, photographer, accompanied Claudia Brose, his wife, for a research project on the effects of tourism on the country's cultural heritage. After last Saturday's cyclone, with its appalling consequences, tens of thousands of victims and a shaken economy, protecting Burma from crass tourism is less of a priority for Claudia. What is real is the suffering and the destruction in a country already heavily taxed by a psychotic military junta.

Several photos and postings from Claudia and John's trip were published in 250Words (see Burma). Claudia, John and I hope most of the people on the photos, including Burmese boys playing soccer barefoot on a Rangoon boulevard or young nuns collecting food in Mandalay, are safe. "It was our first trip to Burma but we both felt that more trips should follow," says Claudia. "It felt very soul-calming and relaxing. People are so devoted to Buddhism that you feel that balanced, calm energy all around you, even though their political situation is awful." Adds John: "I hope our guide, Rosie, and all the wonderful people we met in the monasteries and on the streets, are OK."

A cure for deep vein thrombosis?

By Jacques Gauchey Photo © Thompson Solutions
A sign of relief.

Thompson Solutions, a Northern Irish company, has unveiled a new economy class seat which will bring some dignity and comfort to coach runs, especially long-haul ones. The Cozy Suites brings the power of good design to all of us. Each row of three seats is broken in a three dimensional approach with overlapping longer armrests which for ever cancel the infamous elbow fights and create more shoulder space, with a "huge" seat width of 20 inches. This set-up also gives a sense of privacy and an extra space on the headrest to be able to sleep on the side, a natural position in economy class. It also gives more freedom of movement to the window and middle seats occupants for those life saving walks around the aisles.

The overall result will rival "the width of Business class seats without affecting seat pitch, aisle width or overall capacity," according to Thompson Solutions. A win-win situation for cash-strapped airlines and passengers. Delta ordered rows of them for its Boeing 767s and 777s to be installed by 2010.