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Jean-Baptiste John

@jeanbaptiste.john

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Ex-Nat Geo YS and Wipplay collaborator. Now here.
Cities: Angers-Nantes/France.
Motto: Nec aspera terrent.

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Photos from February 2025 found in the BL-8800’s ROM, 3/3: The last time the phone worked.
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I was heading towards Boulevard Alfred Daney, where Bordeaux’s tidal basin No. 2 is situated. It is at the far end of this floating dock that the German "U-Boot-Bunker" is located.

Four of the bunker’s pens are now used by a video-mapping company. However, in the adjoining tower, documents from the former Bordeaux International Yachting Conservatory (called CIPB in French) and the former cultural organisation "Base sous-marine" are still kept there.

Just as my phone – which was supposed to work underwater – was starting to show signs of weakness (I shouldn’t have used it in the rain), I took one last photo of the space where I was going to be working for the day. That’s when I made one final mistake: I left my phone lying in that damp room, whilst it was still raining, without taking it out of its case.

These mistakes caused the screen to stop working. I managed to replace the screen once I was back in Angers, but whilst opening the phone I also broke the battery connector. However, that’s another story.
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#bordeaux
#bacalan
#ourfotoworld
#igersgironde
#U-Bunker by @jeanbaptiste.john

Photos from February 2025 found in the BL-8800’s ROM, 2/3:

A night walk from Grand Parc to the long-distance bus station of Bordeaux Saint-Jean - Belcier neighbourhood.

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February 2025 marked the final year of the Greens’ term of office in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, everyone thought they would win the local elections again. I knew that wouldn’t be the case. The council was, in fact, facing a major wave of fake news and was unable to manage its own communications. As a result, its opponents – who are now back in power – were writing and saying that the streetlights in the city were switched off. My photos, taken on my mobile, prove that this wasn’t the case: the city was lit up. Perhaps not as brightly as in previous years, but the street lighting was sufficient to make people feel safe.

The only problem I noticed was the lack of maintenance of green spaces, which were overrun with rats. However, cleanliness in south-west France, and particularly in Bordeaux, has always been an issue.
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#bordeaux
#igersfrance
#photowallglobal
#ourfotoworld
#currationbywipplay by @jeanbaptiste.john

Photos from February 2025 found in the BL-8800’s ROM, 1/3:
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Walking from the long-distance coach station to the tram stop at Bordeaux Saint-Jean railway station.
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After seeing the Eiffel footbridge (pic. 1), I took the time to admire the mosaics in this former post and telecommunications office.

Built in the Art Deco style, its mosaics were designed by the renowned firm Gentil & Bourdet. This is the firm responsible, amongst other things, for the mosaics at the Le Louxor cinema in Paris and the floor tiles at Cherbourg’s ferry terminal. The firm also designed other mosaics in prestigious buildings in Bordeaux.

This former PTT sorting centre has now been renovated by Réseau ferré de France and forms part of the railway facilities at the SNCF station.

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#artdéco
#centredetripostal
#bordeauxmaville
#igersgironde
#mosaïques by @jeanbaptiste.john

Bénin, 2006. To go or not to go to Le Togo?
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The heatwave we’ve been experiencing in Europe – and particularly in western France – reminded me of a humanitarian trip (we seem to call them ‘solidarity trips’ these days) to Benin.
The difference was that the climate there was less dry and more tropical.
So I’ve decided to post here a few photos I took with a Fujifilm film camera – an automatic one, mind you.
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Between two assignments – one at a children’s care centre in the economic capital, Cotonou, and the other at a centre in a small village – our group enjoyed a three day break.
Some of us decided to go to Togo. I preferred to stay in Parakou to get some rest. The thing is, we had nothing to eat _not that there was no food available, but our supervisor was clearly an ascetic_ and I didn’t want to have to endure a journey reeking of adulterated petrol.
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#bénin
#togo
#parakou
#lomé
#ourfotoworld by @jeanbaptiste.john

Bénin, 2006 - will I eat this piece of meat?
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The heatwave we’ve been experiencing in Europe – and particularly in western France – reminded me of a humanitarian trip (we seem to call them ‘solidarity trips’ these days) to Benin.
The difference was that the climate there was less dry and more tropical.
So I’ve decided to post here a few photos I took with a Fujifilm film camera – an automatic one, mind you.
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We were in a Muslim village out in the bush. We didn’t have much to eat, so for a moment I hesitated about eating a piece of meat. In the end, I didn’t.
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#ourfotoworld
#urbanstreetphotogallery
#bénin
#butchers
#natgeoyourshotbotw2026 by @jeanbaptiste.john

Bénin, 2006 - a lunch at Parakou
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The heatwave we’ve been experiencing in Europe – and particularly in western France – reminded me of a humanitarian trip (we seem to call them ‘solidarity trips’ these days) to Le Benin.
The difference was that the climate there was less dry and more tropical.
So I’ve decided to post here a few photos I took with a Fujifilm film camera – an automatic one, mind you.
Here, I was taking a ‘break’ (between two assignments) with some secondary school pupils my own age. I remember being able to have a shower at the young woman in the middle aunt's home. That was a real treat after several days of sleeping on the ground in the bush.
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#bénin
#afriquedelouest
#ourfotoworld
#fujifilm
#akassa by @jeanbaptiste.john

Three seasons of the year 2026 in the West of France: summer (before the heat waves)
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A post will also be proposed in autumn.
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I have saved our bento (pictures 1 to 5) at Batz-sur-Mer, then participated in a guided visit proposed by the association Forteresse Saint-Nazaire on an abandoned Kriesgmarine (Marine) artillery battery.
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Afterwards (picture number 6), I have assisted in a reenactment event at Nort-sur-Erdre and have finally been able to navigate on a GMC truck (a Dukw).
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From the pictures 7 to 9, I saw, in the heavy heat, interesting exhibitions of boats and listened to le Bagad de Lann Bihoué.
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On picture 10, we are back at Batz-sur-Mer.
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#summer26
#igersfrance
#igersanjou
#ourfotoworld
#photowalkglobal by @jeanbaptiste.john

3 seasons in the Pays de la Loire region: Spring.
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For two years, the four of us gardeners have been working on producing a book for the members of the Doutre Gardeners’ Association.
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In the archives (particularly the municipal and departmental ones), we discovered that in 2025 our association would not only be 100 years old, but 101 years old! In fact, before becoming a proper association, "l'Amicale des petits jardiniers de la Doutre was a collective of gardeners. It had formed around the organisation of competitions: for the most beautiful garden, the finest vegetable, and the most attractive female gardener (yes, really!).
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Once our research was complete – although research is never truly finished – we edited and published a book which was given to all members of the association. It was also deposited in several libraries across the Angers metropolitan area.
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#book
#essay
#jardinsfamiliaux
#kleingarten
#livredhistoire by @jeanbaptiste.john

3 seasons in the Pays de la Loire region (France)
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A snowy morning of the 2026 winter at Saumur, while commuting from the train station to the office.
Am I missing the cold weather these days? Perhaps.
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#igersanjou
#igersfrance
#jaimelanjou
#winter26
#ourfotoworld by @jeanbaptiste.john

Flooding in Les Ponts-de-Cé
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As part of the competition organised by #igersanjou , here is a series of photos taken during the day in the Angers metropolitan area, this time on the banks of the Loire.
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#laloire
#inondations
#iganjou16
#ourfotoworld by @jeanbaptiste.john

A souvenir of the Hokusai exhibition at Nantes Castle
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Perhaps this poster should have been seen as a kind of foreshadowing? Indeed, a few months later, it was not a wave (from Kanagawa) that overwhelmed us, but the rivers that burst their banks following heavy rainfall.
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#hokusai
#kanagawa
#nantespassion
#expositionhokusai
#chateaudesducsdebretagne by @jeanbaptiste.john

The floods of February 2026 in Angers
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As part of a photography competition organised by #igersanjou , I am sharing here a few photos of the floods that hit the city of Angers last February.
I tried to focus on the lampposts, road signs and other urban features that were submerged.
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#inondations
#flooding
#lamaine
#iganjou16 by @jeanbaptiste.john