Marc Seyon — nude, portrait and art photography

This one is going on my wall!

I want to share the story behind this photo just as much as the photo itself. I happened upon this old bottle in one of the ancillary buildings at Mount St. Benedict back in March 2012, along with some other interesting artifacts that seemed to date back to at least the mid 1900s. For those who don't know, Mount St. Benedict is a Benedictine abbey nestled in the foothills of Trinidad's Northern Range, dating from 1912. Last week I happened upon a call for submissions from @featureshoot for a group show titled 'Nostalgia', and I immediately recalled these old photos. Looking through them, I was quite miffed with myself that I didn't have a photo of the bottle showing the engraved mark more clearly. The middle and top lines were fairly easy, "Belgique" and "Andenne" respectively, with Google turning up the historic region of Belgium. The meaning of the top line seemed lost to history. With some urging, though, I searched further. It took several casts into the depths of the collective knowledge known as the Internet before someone on Twitter replied "Eug. Loss possibly for Eugene Losson?" A name he'd turned up Googling various combinations. Eugene Losson lead me to another find on Google - the French phrase "Poterie de gres produits refractaires" - "Stoneware pottery refactory products", translated Google. I was on the right track, it seemed. Surely enough, I came upon a website called Bibliotheca Andana, a virtual library for the Andenne region of Belgium which identified Losson & Co, a stoneware pottery factory. I sent my photo to the library's coordinator who confirmed the bottle had, indeed, likely been manufactured by Eugene Losson. The coordinator further told me Mr. Losson's name is enshrined in history as one of 260 martyrs of Andenne shot by German forces in a 1914 massacre. Quite an amazing story for an old bottle in an abandoned building on a Caribbean island, wouldn't you say?

Masha NYC 2014

That last shot? Take it.

Lighting this cake was a fun little challenge. It's the tallest wedding cake we've done, and I didn't think to walk with my strobes. All I had was one flash. Made do with a bunch of makeshift reflectors/diffusers. Think it turned out alright.

Spring Bridge detail Blanchisseuse, Trinidad

Fishing off the old Spring Bridge Blanchisseuse, Trinidad

This will probably make a wonderful print. Maybe I should gift one to the owners?

These are from a shoot I did years ago with my friend Andre Mangatal. He's an amazingly talented classically trained tenor.

This is from 2010. I would love to walk through the Scharloo district of Willemstad again and see what has become of these glorious old buildings.