Posts — Jérôme Martin

Beneath the vaults, the crucified Christ

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Atop the stone rood screen, the crucified Christ watches over the abbey church. The Gothic vaults stretch far above the statues praying in the half-light.

The time machine

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

All it takes is to push the door ajar to step into another era. In the half-light of the shed, the old farm equipment waits for someone to remember what it was for.

At the crossroads

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sainte-Florine, the town where I grew up. At the level crossing, the road meets the railway, and the tracks run straight toward the hills. The soft golden light lends the scene a touch of nostalgia.

A bulb that thinks it's a candle

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Le Grand Siècle, at the Puy du Fou. The decor replays the seventeenth century down to the smallest detail: a brass sconce with star-engraved glass, set against a blue wall covering dotted with gold diamonds, edged by a damask curtain. Nothing here is period, and yet the eye believes it. Perhaps that is the real show: a bulb that thinks it’s a candle.

A factory as a work of art

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Who decided an industrial building couldn’t be beautiful? Not the architect who designed this one: the brick lines up in regular bands, the wired glass throws back the sky in fragments. The chimney, for its part, holds its own vertical, with nothing left to smoke. Even the tag in the bottom right doesn’t disturb the composition, it just adds to it.

A Japanese bridge, in the Cantal

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We are not in Japan, but in the Cantal. At our feet, the Doire valley settling into the last light of day.

Hunting trophies, Chambord

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Deer antlers punctuate the gallery, between stone and stained glass. At the end of the corridor: the statue of Diana.

Chambord, at the blue hour

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A skyline of chimneys, built to heat the many apartments meant to house the court of Francis I. Legend has it there are as many as days in the year, but the last count found two hundred and eighty-two (yes, someone had to count them).

The Rodez community hall

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I walk across the checkerboard square. It is deserted, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. Points of light come on across the façade of the community hall: a Milky Way, an echo of the night sky yet to come.

Architect: Atelier Nebout.

In the streets of Rodez

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In the footsteps of Soulages, chasing the Outrenoir. Rodez saw him born: here, once night has fallen, the street lamps don’t chase the dark from the façades. They carve it.

Divine light

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Past the monumental villas of the Bois de la Chaise, on the island of Noirmoutier, a small white chapel catches my eye. The door is open and invites me in. I discover, with emotion, a coloured atmosphere, which contrasts with the harshness of the summer light. My eyes adjust to the darkness, and it is with a sense of bliss that I contemplate, one by one, the stained-glass windows of the artist Malel.

Summer memory

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

By day, the village of Le Vieil belongs to the tourists. But once evening falls, the bustle gives way to stillness. The white houses take on the colours of the setting sun, a light breeze rises from the sea, bringing a little coolness after the heat of the day. Only the soft sound of the waves, mingling with the cries of children playing on the sand, disturbs this meditative silence.