Place de la Concorde

Photos de Voyage & A Gourmet’s Journal

Billy Cone’s book is a tale about his love of France and its cuisine. Billy intimately tours France in his second book not simply as a visitor but as a true lover of the country.

“She is a woman, feminine yet in touch with her masculine side, seductive, artsy, full of history and chere (expensive). She only demands of travelers some prior knowledge of her glorious past, a love of life, and plenty of espece (cash). I call her ma maitresse (my mistress) and for the last fifteen years she has been loyal as a companion and challenging as my teacher. If Heaven is a place, it would be on the Michelin Map of France.”

“France is like an onion. Peal it and each layer reveals a different people of different means and backgrounds. But the two things that do not change from the outer skin to the core are their love for their language and good food. At the risk of sounding redundant, I cannot emphasize enough how the French love to (converse) and to bien bouffer (eat well). Granted these things are important in all corners of the globe, but the French take them to a higher level of awareness and appreciation. “

Photos de Voyage & A Gourmets Journal will be available for purchase and personal signing July 1, 6:00 at his first show in Charleston at 214 The Real Estate Studio.

Cafe-de-Flore

This Pica award winning first book by Billy Cone starts with a sense of adventure, a passion for photography, a stay with a French host family and studying at a language school in Paris. This fabulous book describes his exploration of the French country side capturing the mood of each destination with descriptions of local color and memorable meals.

Billy Cone, an award winning photographer and self proclaimed gourmet, gives a personal account of his travels throughout France. Rich color photography delights the eye; la langue francaise intrigues the ear, while mouthwatering details of French cuisine awakens the palette.  This book serves as an inspiration to those who have dreamed of living abroad and capturing the spirit of another’s culture.

Billy frequents France as often as he can to absorb the culture and to inspire his life’s work of capturing the human soul in photography and on canvas. He is currently in Paris for a long jaunt of inspiration. Billy will have this first book for purchase and signing on Wednesday July 1.

“Billy Cone is a purist in the use of the camera. By including the margins of each negative there is a continuity in our seeing exactly what he saw. The essence of Cone’s photography explores human emotions and conditions, including love and companionship, loneliness and dependency, heroism and sensuality.”

“Cone’s photos are remarkable. I particularly liked ‘Now I Lay Me Down’ and ‘Les, Soeures.’ They make me think of an Italian painter named Caravaggio of the 16th and 17th centuries who created powerful contrasts of shadows and light which he called, ‘chiaroscuro.’ Living Statues is a very, very beautiful. Bravo.” - Noelle Vignaux, Paris Art Gallery Owner

“Cone’s photos are magnificent and very intense. I adore the engraving-like nature of his photos. This book is a great inspiration to us all and to sculpture itself. One of Cone’s photos reminds me of a sculpture by Camille Claudel who worked with Auguste Rodin.” - Laurence Connelly, Artist

“The sculpture is a special kind of art that returns the rock its lost soul. Every sculpture has its own story, its own story, its own life, and its own feelings. Light and dark are the key to awaken these resting souls. Billy’s camera opens the emotion of statures and reveals their lives in photography.” – George Pocheptsov, Child Prodigy Artist