Here's Where I Would Like to Be

In 1920s Paris... gossiping with New Yorker journalist Janet Flanner,

... picking up style types in the dressing-room of transvestite circus artiste Barbette...

... getting to grips with Josephine Baker's pet cheetah.

Life then was "dinners, soirees, poets, erratic millionaires, translations, lobsters, absinthe, music, promenades, oysters, sherry, aspirin, pictures, Sapphic heiresses, editors, books, sailors, And how!'
- American poet Hart Crane describing 1920s Paris in a postcard

Tiny But Perfect in Every Detail

These spooky creatures remind me of a recent action by a Dutch anti-abortion group who, by way of a protest, started popping tiny, plastic foetuses through people's letterboxes. That was until the group discovered that the foetus dolls had become kitsch collectibles and were being traded on eBay!

Where Does Giorgio Source his Scarves?

Scarves spotted at Giorgio Armani's Men's collection, Fall 2009.

Nubian scarf bought by me in Egypt for €8, December 2008. Photo: Annie

The Trail-Blazing Valkyries

Bullfinch's Mythology (1855) describes the Valkyries as "warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed with helmets and spears. (...) When they ride forth on their errand, their armour sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up over the northern skies, making what men call the "aurora borealis", or "Northern Lights".

Puppy Love

This is Pippa, a ten-week-old Münsterländer pup who has swept into the lives of my friends Vincent and Chitra. Me and my lovely Bertje have appointed ourselves her Furry Godmothers, which makes her, I suppose, our God Dog. This photo was taken after her first encounter with the seaside. The eyes say it all: "Life's a Beach!!!"
Photo: Annie

It's Written All Over His Face

Judging from his sad eyes and resigned expression, this man has had more than his fair share of disappointment, of tears rather than laughter. How ironic that it should be the great comic Groucho Marx...
Photo: Richard Avedon

Temple

With all those endorphins kicking in, the gym is a religious experience every time. Amongst my fellow worshippers is the spitting image of the Dalai Lama - complete with a formidable array of tattoos - and a woman whose sweat forms perfect angel wings on her back.
Photo: Annie

Old Dog

This old dog has seen better days. He's a bit wobbly on his pins and his body's giving up on him. But he's still adorable. That's why he stands at the entrance to one of Amsterdam's main hospitals, where he greets the patients who are also need of a little patching up. As you can see from his shiny head and back, he gets plenty of grateful cuddles.
Photo: Annie

Nothing Is So Sexy...

... as a man zipping a woman's dress.
Photo: Annie. Taken at a performance by the artist Flavio Pons; click to enlarge.