Tourists with Saint Nicolas and Chain Towers, La Rochelle, France
Street photograph of tourists on the quay of the harbor at La Rochelle, France. Imposing and ominous the Saint Nicholas Tower and the Chain Tower dominate the town and harbor. Built in the 14th century, the Medieval towers played a part in sieges and battles, in particular the brutal religious wars between the Huguenots and the French crown, that occurred in this once strategically important part of France. Tourists visit the Saint Nicholas Tower in the background. In this very peaceful time throughout Europe, they are in many ways unaware of the profound existential threat that the castles were built to meet. The seated couple, at the end of the broad sweep that cuts through the foreground of the photograph, harkens to the military as the man looks into the distance with binoculars.
