December 2010
December 2010, Sofitel Miami USA
If you have an overnight stay in Miami the Sofitel is well priced with lagoon views and very close to the airport, their free shuttle will take you from door to door and a dip in their pool will refresh your jet lag.
December 2010, Mandarin Oriental Miami
Michelle met with the director of Communications for the Mandarin Oriental in Miami.
The visit coincided with Art Basel and the hotel was exhibiting a prize collection of Asian Art. Their infinity pool and newly refurbished spa are everything you would expect from the Mandarin Oriental group.
On arrival you are greeted by aromas of the oriente and a table of exquisite orchids.
December 2010, Cartagena de Indias 39th ICANN public meeting
Michelle shot a variety of imagery from the meeting including portraits.
One of these was of Stewart Lawley, the CEO of the ICM registry, the company who have applied to run domain registrations in the .xxx name space.
December 2010, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Michelle carried out a photo shoot at the Passion Hotel Cartagena the magical home land of author Gabriel García Márquez who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982.
The romantic pastel-coloured UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, is the location for La Passion Hotel.
An original Cartagenan property in this historic Caribbean port, it was purchased in 2004 and lovingly converted into a shabby-chic boutique hotel by owners, Thierry from Paris and Lilliana from Bogota.
Many of the decorative artefacts of this eight-roomed hotel in Cartagena were procured in Morocco and shipped all the way across the Atlantic, eventually arriving on this stunning coastline. I´m not just talking lamps and rugs; the hand-carved Arabesque style doors are three metres tall. The huge, high ceilings in the rooms give that magical sense of space; the walls are so thick you wonder if your arms could stretch as wide as them. The humidity in Cartagena provides a natural peeling-paint effect, with inevitable colourful shades in nature´s earth tones, all of which form part of the decor. This is no ordinary hotel – in fact, there is absolutely nothing normal about it. Staff appear and disappear at will, there is no welcome pack, no instructions; it’s more like a home, with semi-invisible staff. Breakfast is served on the roof terrace looking out over a sea of terra cotta tiles and majestic towers, with carefully placed Caribbean touches of old boats and coconut husks. Read more
December 2010, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
This destination with its crumbling UNESCO protected old town of Cartagena de Indias
Is unbelievably photogenic and Michelle couldn´t resist establishing a stock collection of imagery. One of her very favourite photographs is that of Angelica and this is the image that Michelle has used this year to welcome in 2011.
Angelica aged 64 years old is proud to have worked as a Palenquera selling portions of fruit in the Plaza Santa Domingo of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia since the age of 12. Palenquero is a Spanish Creole based language with just 3,000 people speaking the language today. The friendship build up over the visit shows in the relaxed nature of the smile, essential in portrait photography.
Wishing Everyone a very happy 2011!
