This site is a production of studio arago on the banks of the Agly River in the commune of St. Paul de Fenouillet (in Occitan Sant Pau de Fenolhet), Pyrénées-Orientales, France.
The authors, Robert Young and Diana Young, are ex-travelers living now in the Fenouillèdes, an Occitan region of Southwestern France on the ancient Catalan border, in the shadow of Pic de Bugarach, on a garigue hillside overlooking on one side the Agly River and, on the other, the Roussillon plain. On clear days we glimpse a silver sliver of the Sea.
Studio Arago is the current name of their long partnership as photographers, writers, and documentarians. Projects under way at the moment include a series of books based on travels and research in the US and in Europe, including New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, La Camargue, Provence, the Côte Vermeille, Roussillon, the Fenouillèdes, Rome, and Sicily. Robert is working on novels and short stories while Diana continues taking photographs and sketching.
During their careers as photographer and writer, they have worked with numerous cultural and artistic institutions, including the French National School of Photography, the New Orleans Center for Contemporary Art, the Andy Warhol Foundation, Art Rage Us, the Mississippi State Historical Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Memphis Museum of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, University Press of Mississippi, the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Publications by the Youngs include:
Mississippi Choctaw Crafts
Biloxi’s Ethnic Heritage: Images of Change and Tradition
Earl’s Art Shop: Building Art with Earl Simmons
The Library: The Spirit that Builds
Living Trees
Introducing Studio Arago
L’Arrière Pays, Photographs from the Back Country
Paris, un rêve retrouvé, Rediscovered Images of the City of Light
Filé Review, No. 1: Intro
The Hermit and Other Stories / Sketches from a Sketchbook
Ce site est une production du Studio Arago sur les rives de la rivière Agly dans la commune de St. Paul de Fenouillet (en occitan Sant Pau de Fenolhet), Pyrénées-Orientales, France.
Les auteurs, Robert Young et Diana Young, sont d’anciens voyageurs vivant désormais dans le Fenouillèdes, une région occitane du sud-ouest de la France à l’ancienne frontière catalane, à l’ombre du Pic de Bugarach, sur un coteau de garrigue surplombant d’un côté la rivière Agly. et, d’autre part, la plaine du Roussillon. Par temps clair, nous apercevons un ruban argenté de la mer.
Studio Arago est le nom actuel de leur longue collaboration en tant que photographes, écrivains et documentaristes. Les projets en cours en ce moment comprennent une série de livres basés sur des voyages et des recherches aux États-Unis et en Europe, notamment la Nouvelle-Orléans, la côte du golfe, la Camargue, la Provence, la Côte Vermeille, le Roussillon, les Fenouillèdes, Rome et la Sicile. Robert travaille sur des romans et des nouvelles tandis que Diana continue de prendre des photos et de dessiner.
Au cours de leur carrière de photographe et d’écrivain, ils ont collaboré avec de nombreuses institutions culturelles et artistiques, dont l’École nationale supérieure de la photographie, le Centre d’art contemporain de la Nouvelle-Orléans, la Fondation Andy Warhol, Art Rage Us, le Mississippi State Historical Museum, le Mississippi Museum of Art, le Memphis Museum of Art, le National Endowment for the Arts, le National Endowment for the Humanities, University Press of Mississippi, la Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi et le Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
These are the true facts. The rest is pure conjecture.
Does the Mistral begin somewhere near you?
I’m envious of the fact that you can speak of carnivals whilst us poor folks up here in the cold damp outer Hibernias of this world are obliged to suffer cold wintry blasts, long nights, overcast days, and the like!
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We’re in the path of the tramontane, which sweeps down from the Pyrenees and can be every bit as nasty as the Mistral. We once spent January in the Camargue to escape a cold Pyreneean winter and the Mistral blasted us for the whole month. So, the tramontane can be strong but not quite at Mistal level.
As for carnivals, well, the Carnival we most identify with is the one in New Orleans, where we used to live. Have you ever seen the TV series Treme? If you have, then you’ve got a good picture of what Carnival means to us. But a carnival can also be a traveling show, like a circus, so there’s that set of metaphors in mind. Carnival Time in NOLA means getting through the worst weather of the year in good spirits. Our bank in NO, by the way, was Hibernia Bank: huge Irish population in NO with its own quarter, The Irish Channel, which is where we lived. Our favorite bar in the Channel was Parasol’s, which had a huge map of Ireland & other Old Sod stuff. Marching clubs on St. Patrick’s day and a parade . . . Another good reference for our take on all this is John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. I guess our idea of Carnival is more in the spirit of Ignatius Reilly! So when those wintry blasts & overcast days get you down, get you a king cake, cook up a pot of gumbo, put Professor Longhair & Fats Domino on the victrola . . . and it’s Carnival Time!
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I don’t know about Professor Longhair but I got to thinking about Hank Williams after reading this wonderful reply… maybe it was the ‘pot of gumbo’ did it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKOVPXhlnE
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Dear Robert and Diana Young,
Thank you for visiting and commenting on my blog. You are certainly welcome to explore and comment on more posts and pages of my blog. If you like, visit my “About” page and “User Guide” page to familiarize yourself with my blog, which by virtue of its multidisciplinary nature and topics, is multifaceted in its features and presentations. These two pages will greatly help you to utilize the plethora of features to maximize your experience and enjoyment when you visit my complex blog/website.
The “User Guide” is available to you at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/about/user-guide/
I would recommend using a desktop or laptop computer with a large screen to view the rich multimedia contents available for heightening your multisensory enjoyment at my blog, which could be too powerful and feature-rich for iPad, iPhone, tablet or other portable devices to handle properly or adequately.
Furthermore, since my intricate blog contains advanced styling and multimedia components plus animations, it is advisable to avoid using the WordPress Reader, which cannot show many of the advanced features in my posts and pages. Instead, read the posts and pages directly in my blog so that you will be able to savour and relish all of the refined and glorious details.
Given your backgrounds and interests, I am naturally very keen and curious of what you think and make of the contents of my blog in greater detail during your subsequent visits.
May you find the rest of 2021 very much to your liking and highly conducive to your writing, reading, thinking and blogging whatever topics that take your intellectual fancy!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
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Thank you for your detailed comment and encouragement. We will certainly take your advice about exploring the “plethora of features.” It’s encouraging to have our work looked at, read, and appreciated. Thank you.
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