Karl F. Stewart Vanishing Beauty All life forms are composed of many veils. And as the seasons evolve the veils of our allure gradually fade away leaving only traces of that which was. We vanish beneath the uncovering of our veils ... And beauty, as well as charm, has its veils which can become worn. They start to thin. Their luster lessens. Sometimes veils are remade. They are patched up. They are painted over. They are replaced. At other times there is no recourse to action. And it is these moments of seemingly no way out where we find parallels to those towns without apparent remedy, in economic difficulty and with and aging population, that have retreated within the remnants of their veil, peering out, waiting between the in and out of their existence. These reflections are explored in the photographic images focused on Tournus, France, which can be seen as the embodiment of the small town in Europe whose surface beauty lingers but whose charm appears fated to wither. These are the towns outside the loop of the digital age but at the same time struggle to maintain their connection to a land they had cultivated for centuries. These are the towns of a once upon a time reality of beauty and charm in a phase of transition.
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