2008 May « Chris and Ken’s Weblog

Only with cameras, not guns.

“Shoot first. Sightsee later,” is the tag line of Martin McDonagh’s 2008 film, “In Bruges,” starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes, which follows the saga of a pair of hit men holed up in Belgium’s most well-preserved medieval city. Sort of a Pulp Fiction on vacation, the movie has its moments, but falls short of the heights achieved by Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar winner.

In Paris with a full week at my disposal, I was certain I wanted to venture out of the city overnight, or for a full day trip at least. And I gave the matter considerable thought: Amsterdam would have been my first choice, but at more than four hours each way by train, it was a bit too far. A host of other destinations received consideration, including but not limited to: Dijon, Strasbourg, Orleans, Rouen, and Brussels. It must be patently obvious by now that Bruges, Belgium was the destination of choice.

It certainly looked appealing from a photographer’s perspective. Dubbed “Venice of the North” by some, Bruges is a patchwork of cobbled medieval streets and canals dominated by the Markt, an impressive and bustling central square.

One thing that bugged me about the movie was the long sequence towards the end of the film which involved considerable gun-play in the streets of Bruges’ old city center. Chris and I said to each other afterwords, “Yeah, right, where were all the cops?” Having been to Bruges, I’m now uncertain if the scene in question is inaccurate after all. I can say now that I have seen a cop in Bruges (or is it the cop?). He was on a bicycle, unarmed, and was busy scolding someone to get off their bike and walk it through what must have been a “walk-only” zone. It’s just a guess, but I suspect, realizing he was horribly over-matched by the gun-toting thugs and hitmen in the movie, he would have decided to stay indoors and sit this one out.

It was a difficult day from a photographer’s perspective, warm, but with bright sunshine and harsh shadows. Clouds, even undramatic ones on an overcast day can add a certain element that I really like. Consequently, the best photos were the evening and night shots.

I’ve been tinkering with a couple of techniques in Photoshop, so I thought I’d post a couple of images from Bruges. Below you’ll see three shots pretty much as they came out of the camera, each followed by another version featuring the textured layer technique I’ve been trying out. I’d be interested to hear what you think. Without further ado, here they are.