The Palace of Versailles is a flat-out circus of visual delights. It’s over the top grandeur and over again a few times. You pass through a room thinking you’ll never see anything as grand and beautiful as this, and the next room is even more of a knockout. And the next one … bam again. As a photographer, I couldn’t see enough, couldn’t shoot enough, couldn’t be awed and inspired enough.
By the opulence. The grandeur. The size. The antiquity. The richness. The patterns. The colors. The gold. The art. The architecture. And the audacity of Louis XIV to envision Versailles, not to mention having the wealth and power to actually construct it. With lots of indentured servants and public coffers, of course.
But that’s history. On this winter day in 2017, I was just one of 15 million visitors that will visit the palace and grounds this year. I was under the spell of France’s crown jewel, taken by the light, patterns and other-worldly enchantment that radiates from all the statues, paintings, fountains and pools.
I came, I photographed and I was helplessly conquered. Viva la France! Enjoy!
John Gerstner has been passionate about photography since his dad appointed him family photographer on annual vacations at age 10. He has worked as a photojournalist, magazine editor, corporate communicator and founder of Communitelligence.com. His photographs and photo-paintings have been exhibited in galleries across North America. Assignments welcome. More photographs at instagram/johngerstner.