Volets: count the colors splashed on shutters that animate the landscape of Provence. Patches of bright spots abound. Some villages or neighborhoods color-coordinate their shutters, And some shutters age naturally, taking on a faded worn patina.
How could Peter Mayle have omitted volets in his Provence A-Z? (or Grenache for that matter)
Popping into E.LeClerc in Avignon, PVB asked the sales clerk what are the top selling paints for shutters. The category leaders are a Provence Bleue, and a Gray-Green called Vert Provence.
In Provence, shutters function as protection against the wind, the Mistral that roars down from the north, and as temperature control.
In the hot summer days, windows are opened and the shutters are closed, blocking out the sun while allowing air to circulate in the room. In the winter, shutters hold out the rain and the cold.
The sturdy wooden shutters (see the Youtube link below) have a metal handle that rotates a rod, called a cremone, which locks shutters in place.
When opened fully, the shutters are held against the wall by an arret, usually a metal holder attached to the wall that is moved over the shutter. (In the photos above and below, the arrets are visible).
The photographs displayed here were taken by Indra Van Regemorter, who resides in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, during her sojourn last summer to Provence.
You can view her entire portfolio Shutters / Volets here: Slideshow
Basics
Photography: Indra Van Regemorter
Assigning herself as an autodidact, Indra composes her own work except with rare assistance from food stylists. Born in Antwerp, Belgium and raised partially in Dallas-Ft.Worth, Texas, she resides in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
Making Volets at the Menuiserie Roux – Tombarello, Bedoin : Youtube