Another One Joins The Club

All has been quiet on the south side of La Seine for some time. And then quite suddenly, there appeared in my inbox, a true delight.

Anders and Megan, friends of a friend, are travelling throughout Europe and snapping some great pictures of the beautiful countryside and city life from Barcelona to Berlin. In between they stopped in the City of Lights and lucky for us Anders posed for a Rhino shot.

Notice the guy in the green shirt and red hat. He has just figured out what is going on. Priceless. I'm sure he alerted his travelling companion right after the picture was snapped.

Thank you for sending this my way, JC.

L'histoire du Rhinocéros d'Orsay

I could not find any information about who made the Rhino statue or why it was selected to be placed outside the Musée d'Orsay. An inquiring mind posed the question on the museum's website. I was hoping for an email response but instead I received a formal letter.


It turns out that this Rhino came from l'Ancien Palais de Trocadéro which was built for the World's Fair of 1867. If you look closely on the right side of the picture near the bottom of the steps, you can see the Rhino statue.

When the palace was demolished, the Rhino was removed and stored. It was restored in 1986 and placed at the entrance of the d'Orsay Museum where it resides today. And this completes today's history lesson.

Rhino-Mass

Les Américains, you too can play along without having to travel across the pond!

My research has turned up another Rhinoceros sculpture outside the Biological Sciences Building at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Upon close inspection, you will notice that this Rhino's legs are close together. You will have to frame your picture accordingly so that you capture the desired result. See initial posts as examples.

Bonne Chance, Les Américains! I can't wait to see your photos.

10 years later: the project continues

This is the 2006 photo by John. Notice. The museum had painted the ticket area of golden brown since 1996.

My favorite story about this picture is John's interest as a photographer. He was genuinely dismayed about the lady's head behind Jeff's shoulder and wished he could have had another shot at it. He thought about airbrushing her out via Photoshop. His concern for the quality of the photo really touched me!

Inspiration for this project

Back in 1996, my friend Jeff and I went on a European vacation via planes, trains, and automobiles. Our base was Paris. Each day we would venture out and about soaking up life in the city of lights. We spent much of our trip trying to capture the essence of our journey. We wrote long journal entries, had meaningful conversations with the people we met, and shot 100s of photos.

On one outing, we went to one of my favorite museums in Paris: Musée d'Orsay. At the front entrance, there is a peculiar sculpture of a Rhinoceros. Inspired by the recently released Ace Ventura sequel movie, Jeff ducked beneath the undercarriage of this massive d'objet d'art. The looks of the innocent by-standers is priceless.

In 2006, my friends, Jeff and John, returned to Paris and I most annoying the identical scene. They graciously answered my request. These two globetrotters returned again recently and relented once more but challenged me to be the next one to be photographed with the rhino in said position. I do not have the means to do so at this time, but vow to do so when the opportunity presents itself. So for now, I challenge you to do it. Send me your photos from underneath the d'orsay Rhino and I will post them here.