I'm taking the Eurostar for London in a few hours for a long weekend, here are some links to keep you busy. See you on Tuesday (hey, it's goin to be a long weekend).
My distinguished sponsor today is Charles Baudelaire:

YOU are a sky of autumn, pale and rose;
But all the sea of sadness in my blood
Surges, and ebbing, leaves my lips morose,
Salt with the memory of the bitter flood.

In vain your hand glides my faint bosom o'er,
That which you seek, beloved, is desecrate
By woman's tooth and talon; ah, no more
Seek in me for a heart which those dogs ate.

It is a ruin where the jackals rest,
And rend and tear and glut themselves and slay--
A perfume swims about your naked breast!

Beauty, hard scourge of spirits, have your way!
With flame-like eyes that at bright feasts have flared
Burn up these tatters that the beasts have spared!

Photo France has published several photos left out from the next Swarovski campaign with Laetitia Casta. The advertising agency, Publicis Etoile, has decided that those ads are "too european", a new euphemism for "too sexy". Swarovski is a jeweler specialised in crystal, with ugly necklesses, hand bags etc, 13,000 people work for the label all over the world. Laetitia Casta has an exclusive contract with them, including sponsoring their events. The campaign itself will be up for Christmas. The campaign budget was $2.5 million, about 10% of it will go to Laetitia.
I've scanned 5 pics. Photo has two more that I didn't bother to scan because Laetitia looks too fat. I found the campaign quite ugly, but then, so are the products. It was photographed by Marino Parisotto Vay, really not my cup of espresso. It is the fourth campaign of Laetitia for Swaovski, but the precedent had much better photographers. I think it's the first shooting of Laetitia since she gave birth (the galeries Lafayette campaign was shot long before).
Here are the pics:
1 - a double-spread with Laetitia opening her legs (a must these days), but not looking her best.
2 - the pic above, larger version, clearly a winner.
3 - a smaller scan, quite provocative for a very conservative label.
4 - a b/w ad, I don't like it, it's suppose to be suggestive, but it suggests the photographer has no imagination at all.
5 - another b/w, this one much better, Laetitia looks great, but this lesbian atmosphere is cleary faked. The transparency of the dress works, if you see what I mean.