Description:
This is a November 1995 photograph of what appeared to be a family informally gathered around a sidewalk table at Brasserie Anandine in an unknown location in Antibes, France. In overview, this is one of many images that initially did not cause me to want to trip the shutter but which increased in interest as I comprehended cumulative information about the scene I was viewing. To be completely honest, what originally caught my attention was the 5-globe Victorian street lamp in the upper left center of the photo. Secondly, the name of the restaurant, Brasserie Anandine, caused me to think of Anais Nin, which led me to further explore the scene. Eventually, I noticed the restaurant specialized in French and Belgium beers (some on tap and others in bottles) and that a family was seated at the table closest to the sidewalk. Brasseries traditionally are very informal, which brought my attention to the informal nature of the gathering of the family. I did not interact with the persons in this photo so I had no way of validating they were, in fact, a family but there did appear to be a younger adult couple sitting across the table from each other, an older adult male at the end of the table, a young girl kneeling in a chair and two baby strollers, one on each side of the table. Ultimately, all of these factors intersected in a manner which caused me to capture this single image. This image may not rise to the standards for a Norman Rockwell Americana family scene but, after all, this family is not in America. It is in Antibes, France, and I cannot help but admire the nature of the gathering.
