Paolo Piva English Page

Curios around the World

images by
Paolo Piva

New York
Visitors since 1998:

My hobbies have been drawing, riddles and photography. Like falling in love, these passions have come to an end as well and have been replaced by others such as computing, to which I've been dedicating the last few years. On this web page I've downloaded my favorite pictures taken several years ago.

If you wish writing to me, my e-mail address is: pivapao@yahoo.fr

In July 1974 I was in Cyprus just before the war between Greece and Turkey broke-out as a result of a tempted coup d'état. At around mid-day, I was having a walk in the Turkish part of Nicosia looking for a restaurant. All of a sudden I came across this little old woman dressed in black with a white tea cup in her hands. She was crouched in the shade of this British phone booth with Turkish inscriptions.

This picture was taken in the summer of 1972 in Corsica, near Pinarello, during a motorboat trip around the island. Even after many years, this idyllic vision of men and women in one of the first nudist beaches of the Mediterranean makes me think of paradise on earth. 25 years later, I came back to this place but the nudists had gone.

Same place and same day as the previous picture. The reaction of the people differs: while two of them don't seem bothered, the third is apparently very upset.

This is the entrance of a disco in down town Milan at the beginning of the ''70s. I was amused by the simultaneous presence of a bicker - transporting a person and a plant - and of many young people urging to enter the dancing.

This is the corner between via Vitruvio and via Benedetto Marcello, near Milan Central Station, at the beginning of the 70’s. The scene is unequivocal, but a doubt remains on the sex of the street walker.

Lavezzi islands, summer 1972. The line of graves in this cemetery is a reminder of the tragic events of the night of 15 February 1855 during which 750 men died. The Sémillante frigate had left Toulon with 350 crew and 400 soldiers for Sebastopole during the Crimean War. Heading out through Bonifacio in heavy fog, she caught a sudden gust of wind and ran aground on the reef. It is still the worst shipping disaster ever in the Mediterranean.

This picture was taken in the summer of 1972. While leaving Corsica and heading for the Giglio island, I was surprised by the arrival of this ship in the tiny local port. There isn't enough space to maneuver. The only possible way to approach the deck is to pivot by 180° around the buoy. Two sailors grasp the cable thrown overboard from the prow of the ship and rapidly attach it to the bouy in order to avoid the collision between ship and deck.

This is what happens when the fog takes an old cargo-boat by surprise. This is the Elviscot wreck that got stranded in january 1972 on a reef near Pomonte of Elba island. On the left, on the reef a bather can be seen.

What are these two men doing during a cold winter's morning just before dawn? They are shaving a pig that has just been killed in order to process it, within a few hours, in salami and ham. By pouring boiling water on the pig, and generating the thick and visible steam, they intend to soften the hair.

In August 1971, while crossing Yugoslavia by car on my way to Greece, I rested for a few minutes in a place situated between Pristina and Skopje while the locals were cooling off from the excessive heat. A short distance away from the men who are showering, the women don't hesitate to bathe completely dressed.

October 1976. I am in Jakarta for a radiology congress. In the near suburbs where I was organising the repatriation of the exposed equipment, I was charmed by this village where the toilets are out in the open and overhanging the canal.

Paris "Marché aux Puces", May 1970. Roaming around through the narrow and characteristic streets, I came across this unusual reseller of dental prosthesis inclusive of an antiseptic treatment. I returned over and over again to this same place without ever encountering the same market stall again. Could it have been a joke?

The small white house between the two sails was my first home in Sydney in 1975. The large rectangular living room window has a view on the Balmoral beach, that every weekend sees preparations and the departures of small local regattas. The day after Christmas is, instead, the great annual occasion to compete in the most important australian regatta, the "Sydney-Hobart Race".

A batik handcraft site in Penang, Malaysia August 1978. These women are hanging up fabrics which have just been dyed in blue or red. Beforehand an other worker had stamped the decorative motif with liquefied wax via a sort of iron.

Freetown April 1981. As opposed to neighbouring countries, Sierra Leone was, at that time, an oasis of peace. Here we can see the main market place of the capital located downtown coasting the sea. The merchandise dealed with is mainly food and fabric.

This picture was taken on April 26, 1981 from Ducor Hotel in Monrovia, one year after the military take-over by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe on April 12, 1980. Doe disemboweled President Tolbert in his bed while he slept. In a horrific scene 13 ministers were publicly executed on this West Point Beach on April 22, 1980.
Beijing, Tienanmen square, July 1982. In a corner of this immense and silent square, maybe the largest in the world, a couple of white stone bridges lead, though a small passage under a gigantic portrait of Mao, to the Forbidden City. Cleanliness is impeccable everywhere. During an afternoon break, a dustman takes a rest.

Shanghai, July 1982. Card games are very popular within China. On sundays and on warm summer nights, many elderly men meet below home and play in the street under the lamp-posts. This way they feel fresher and save the light at home.

I chose this picture, taken in the summer of 1971, because it shows the great number of diapers which regularly had to be washed in order to keep our babies bottoms clean, before the fantastic invention of disposable "pampers". In China, on the other hand, the little bottoms are left "in the wind", the children's pants being open between the two legs.

Hsinchu, Taiwan, january 2003. The thoughtful little girl, in the middle of her kindergarten mates, is my grand-daughter Laure.
Laure, whose first words were in mandarin, is Lucia's daughter, the baby on the swing in the picture here above.

Bangkok, Floating Market 1978. Here is an original way to have a collection. This young child is about to approach the fast moving motor boat on which I am with a group of tourists to ask for money. And we worry about our kids crossing the street alone !

I obtained these cute colored curves from the equation Y=sinaX et Y=cosaX (for the higher graphs) or Y=XsinaX et Y=XcosaX (for the lower graphs), by giving to a the values above each curve. The graphs are of the XY type and the program is Lotus123. These curves are a variation of Lissajous figures that he studied in 1857.

	If you wish writing to me, my e-mail address is: pivapao@yahoo.fr
	In July 1974 I was in Cyprus just before the war between Greece and Turkey broke-out as a result of a tempted coup d'état. At around mid-day, I was having a walk in the Turkish part of Nicosia looking for a restaurant. All of a sudden I came across this little old woman dressed in black with a white tea cup in her hands. She was crouched in the shade of this British phone booth with Turkish inscriptions.
	This picture was taken in the summer of 1972 in Corsica, near Pinarello, during a motorboat trip around the island. Even after many years, this idyllic vision of men and women in one of the first nudist beaches of the Mediterranean makes me think of paradise on earth. 25 years later, I came back to this place but the nudists had gone.
	Same place and same day as the previous picture. The reaction of the people differs: while two of them don't seem bothered, the third is apparently very upset.
	This is the entrance of a disco in down town Milan at the beginning of the ''70s. I was amused by the simultaneous presence of a bicker - transporting a person and a plant - and of many young people urging to enter the dancing.
	This is the corner between via Vitruvio and via Benedetto Marcello, near Milan Central Station, at the beginning of the 70’s. The scene is unequivocal, but a doubt remains on the sex of the street walker.
	Lavezzi islands, summer 1972. The line of graves in this cemetery is a reminder of the tragic events of the night of 15 February 1855 during which 750 men died. The Sémillante frigate had left Toulon with 350 crew and 400 soldiers for Sebastopole during the Crimean War. Heading out through Bonifacio in heavy fog, she caught a sudden gust of wind and ran aground on the reef. It is still the worst shipping disaster ever in the Mediterranean.
	This picture was taken in the summer of 1972. While leaving Corsica and heading for the Giglio island, I was surprised by the arrival of this ship in the tiny local port. There isn't enough space to maneuver. The only possible way to approach the deck is to pivot by 180° around the buoy. Two sailors grasp the cable thrown overboard from the prow of the ship and rapidly attach it to the bouy in order to avoid the collision between ship and deck.
	This is what happens when the fog takes an old cargo-boat by surprise. This is the Elviscot wreck that got stranded in january 1972 on a reef near Pomonte of Elba island. On the left, on the reef a bather can be seen.

	In August 1971, while crossing Yugoslavia by car on my way to Greece, I rested for a few minutes in a place situated between Pristina and Skopje while the locals were cooling off from the excessive heat. A short distance away from the men who are showering, the women don't hesitate to bathe completely dressed.
	October 1976. I am in Jakarta for a radiology congress. In the near suburbs where I was organising the repatriation of the exposed equipment, I was charmed by this village where the toilets are out in the open and overhanging the canal.
	Paris "Marché aux Puces", May 1970. Roaming around through the narrow and characteristic streets, I came across this unusual reseller of dental prosthesis inclusive of an antiseptic treatment. I returned over and over again to this same place without ever encountering the same market stall again. Could it have been a joke?
	The small white house between the two sails was my first home in Sydney in 1975. The large rectangular living room window has a view on the Balmoral beach, that every weekend sees preparations and the departures of small local regattas. The day after Christmas is, instead, the great annual occasion to compete in the most important australian regatta, the "Sydney-Hobart Race".
	A batik handcraft site in Penang, Malaysia August 1978. These women are hanging up fabrics which have just been dyed in blue or red. Beforehand an other worker had stamped the decorative motif with liquefied wax via a sort of iron.
	Freetown April 1981. As opposed to neighbouring countries, Sierra Leone was, at that time, an oasis of peace. Here we can see the main market place of the capital located downtown coasting the sea. The merchandise dealed with is mainly food and fabric.
	This picture was taken on April 26, 1981 from Ducor Hotel in Monrovia, one year after the military take-over by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe on April 12, 1980. Doe disemboweled President Tolbert in his bed while he slept. In a horrific scene 13 ministers were publicly executed on this West Point Beach on April 22, 1980.
	Beijing, Tienanmen square, July 1982. In a corner of this immense and silent square, maybe the largest in the world, a couple of white stone bridges lead, though a small passage under a gigantic portrait of Mao, to the Forbidden City. Cleanliness is impeccable everywhere. During an afternoon break, a dustman takes a rest.
	Shanghai, July 1982. Card games are very popular within China. On sundays and on warm summer nights, many elderly men meet below home and play in the street under the lamp-posts. This way they feel fresher and save the light at home.
	I chose this picture, taken in the summer of 1971, because it shows the great number of diapers which regularly had to be washed in order to keep our babies bottoms clean, before the fantastic invention of disposable "pampers". In China, on the other hand, the little bottoms are left "in the wind", the children's pants being open between the two legs.
	Hsinchu, Taiwan, january 2003. The thoughtful little girl, in the middle of her kindergarten mates, is my grand-daughter Laure. Laure, whose first words were in mandarin, is Lucia's daughter, the baby on the swing in the picture here above.
	Bangkok, Floating Market 1978. Here is an original way to have a collection. This young child is about to approach the fast moving motor boat on which I am with a group of tourists to ask for money. And we worry about our kids crossing the street alone !
	I obtained these cute colored curves from the equation Y=sinaX et Y=cosaX (for the higher graphs) or Y=XsinaX et Y=XcosaX (for the lower graphs), by giving to a the values above each curve. The graphs are of the XY type and the program is Lotus123. These curves are a variation of Lissajous figures that he studied in 1857.