spaceYou know what to do when in Rome. And, when in Paris, you go to the Louvre. But, be forewarned. The museum is huge, very huge. Chances are pretty good you won't see all 35,000 objects of art the Louvre has to offer. If you spent 60 seconds viewing each object, for eight hours a day, it would take seventy-five days to see everything. Not many people get to stay in Paris that long.
My advice is to plan your trip. Yes, you must see Winged Victory and Venus de Milo. And even though signs clearly say no flash photography, you possibly should fight the hordes of flashing tourists struggling to snap a picture of a very disappointing Mona Lisa. (It's so small!) But, after that, pick out a part of history you most enjoy, and find a quieter spot in the museum.
I head for Ancient Mesopotamia.
My favorite object in the museum is the stele of Hammurabi, which dates back to around 1754 BC. The basalt stele, about seven feet tall and shaped like a finger, contains 282 laws that Hammurabi used to rule one of the earliest civilizations. Not many other people wander into this corner of the museum. I had all the quiet time I wanted to photograph and silently enjoy this piece of history. And, it really wasn't just ancient history for me. Good old King Hammurabi unknowingly changed my life.
I once took an online university class about using the internet in the classroom. It was in 1998 when hardly anyone really had access. The final assignment was to create a website. So, I made a lesson for teachers with one of my favorite classroom activities. You Be the Judge of Hammurabi's Code allowed kids to interact and write on table tops with whiteboard markers. It had a bunch of my cartoons and was a hit as soon as I posted the lesson online. And, when the lesson was entered into a contest for web lessons created by teachers, I won the grand prize in that little event sponsored by Microsoft. I won a laptop back in the days when nobody had laptops.
Anyway, once my art was out on the web and seen, it lead to my clip art site which has made me the most non-famous world famous artist on the planet. For example, my art has been spotted on T-shirts in a Manila mall. I've been told it decorates learning tools in a Cambodian orphanage. And, one of my friends in Moldova said he learned English from books with my art. Just in case you are curious, nobody had my permission for any of this and I didn't earn a penny.
Because of my clip art site, I hear from teachers all over the world who use my art in their classrooms. And, one email I received from Namibia changed my life. A woman there wanted to use my art to decorate a day care for AIDS orphans. Did she have my permission? I said, "Yes, but I had to come help!" So, I painted my first mural. I knew right away that it was the first project but it wouldn't be the last one. I just had no idea how many more murals would follow and how far around the planet it would take me.
So, anyway, you can see why Hammurabi and his stele hold a special place in my life. I never asked this other photographer in the Louvre why he also wanted to photograph this piece of history. Perhaps he had a story to rival mine? I don't think so. But, I must say, never in my life have I ever taken a photo looking so stylish.