Michèle Plott (@micheleplott) · DIRTY

Michèle Plott

@micheleplott

Historian of the emotions, visual & material culture, (sometimes) gender, lately monuments & memory in the urban landscape

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Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jun 7

last week in the Napa Valley

The sun setting behind a Valley Oak at the end of a patch of grass & to the right a Live Oak (my favorite). In the distance, barely visible between the two trees, are the mountains at the far northern edge of the valley.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· May 2

my old school being dramatic in March (Wiesbaden, Germany)

A tall brick corner of a once West German (& before & after that German 😛) school; plaster inlays & rectangular & smaller round windows form a design on the facade. The view of the building is partially obscured by a tangle of bare branches.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Apr 28

Reading RN, & as expected, @lollardfish.bsky.social ‘s The Public Scholar is great! So readable, & chock full of useful information!

My copy of David Perry’s The Public Scholar: A Practical Handbook. (Unseen from this angle, numerous post-its already in place.)

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Apr 12

at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, January 2026

A white abstract sculpture seen from outside a pristine, immaculately cleaned window that reflects sunlight, an outdoor sculpture, white buildings of the museum, and the lattice-work roof that shades the side of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Yes, this now feels very much like the before-times…

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Apr 4

#caturday in Manarola (Italy)

A beige-ish cat with some dark grey & brown markings sleeps on weathered wooden boards on top of a wall in Manarola, one of the five villages of Cinque Terra on the Ligurian coast. Steep stone stairs alongside the wall bring the cat to eye level & in the distance is a glimpse of the sea & mountains heading west.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Feb 22

The graves of Hans and Sophie Scholl, executed on 22.2.1943 Cemetery at Perlacher Forst, Munich

Two simple black crosses above gravestones with the names of Sophie and Hans Scholl, and of their father Robert who died in 1973. The tall hedge bordering the graves is mostly bare, & there are many brown leaves on the ground surrounding the flat gravestones. Not pictured but to the right is the grave of Christoph Probst, also a member of the White Rose who was executed on 22.2.1943.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jan 19

breathe

A brilliantly lit tangle of tree branches & bushes, so covered in snow that really you can only guess from all the sunlight how blue the sky has turned

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jan 19

New England snowscape this morning

Bushes & (in the background) tree branches completely coated after a night of gentle, steady snow

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jan 18

In the dome of the Reichstag building, a year ago. (Berlin)

In Norman Foster’s glass & metal cupola (1999) of the Reichstag building, looking down (as he v much intended) into the chamber where members of the Bundestag (German parliamentarians) debate & vote.

“It’s about the relationship between the public and politicians and re-defining that in a way which is unique. It has become a symbol of a city. It has gone beyond that and become a symbol of a nation.” (Foster, in a later reflection on his work)

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jan 7

A quick pit stop for the wise men before heading south again toward Bethlehem

A red-orange BMW sedan from the 1970s (or 80s) parked next to a Christmas tree decorated with matching balls & ribbons; both sit in front of the silver-grey & v futuristic BMW Museum in Munich.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Dec 24

not everything is horrible 🤎

A small child-like snow person with rhododendron leaves for ears & a large & floofy dried hydrangea as a hat.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Dec 15

Happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating

A Hanukkah menorah with 3 candles burning

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Nov 21

Show & tell on Nick Lloyd’s @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social tour

Two small round metal & enamel (?) pins, from the 1930s; one is red & white & says “I gave that Spain’s children might live”, with a black & white image of a distressed baby at the center. The second pin is black & red with the capital letters CNT filling most of the pin. (The CNT was the v large anarcho-syndicalist labor union that played a major role in the Spanish Civil War.)

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Nov 21

Monument to Francesc Macià on the Plaça Catalunya also the 1st stop on a marvelously informative Spanish Civil War tour with Nick Lloyd @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social in September

Weathered bronze bust of Francesc Macià (1859-1933) in front of a section of a towering concrete structure; together they are the monument to the Catalan politician that stands on the Plaça de Catalunya in Barcelona. Josep Maria Subirachs, installed 1991.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Nov 14

Plaça de la Universitat at sunset (Barcelona)

A darkening sky, pale purple with a few swirling clouds, still faintly orange and red at the horizon; below, trees line the busy, wide boulevard that divides the dark outline of the university building from the square. The streetlights and cars’ headlights glow.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Oct 25

last night at Symphony Hall

A view from the 2nd balcony right of the stage & front orchestra seats at Symphony Hall in Boston. I caught a great view of the Handel & Hayden Society, a gorgeous fortepiano, & of the back (alas) of pianist Tanguy de Williencourt as the audience applauded their really wonderful performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #3.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Oct 13

Absolutely in awe of this guy’s core strength tbh (Reykjavik, Iceland)

Vatnsberinn (1937), a statue by Ásmundur Sveinsson. A ridiculously strong-looking man braces himself to pick up two large water cans.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Sep 27

Hrafnabjargafoss (Central Iceland)

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Sep 7

ALL the colors

A slightly sideways photo of a crater lake in central Iceland, showing the seemingly infinite colors and textures of rock, water and cloudy sky. The area around Landmannalaugar is well known for its colors, and they are, in fact, pretty amazing.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Sep 7

near Landmannalaugar (Iceland)

The edge of a crater lake in central Iceland; the steep rocky sides of the crater are brown and red and an unbelievable (but real) chartreuse. Bits of blue sky break through light clouds, the first sun we saw that day.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Sep 6

near Askja Crater, August 21, 21:54 (Iceland)

Sunset in central Iceland, near Askja. A line of yellow and orange light divides a dark blue-grey sky from the near-black, obscured landscape. The outline of a volcano in the distance looks small, almost miniature, but it is actually huge & dominates the drive to Askja.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Aug 28

18hrs later we had one peach left from a large bag

A perfectly ripe peach cut into six pieces & arranged like a star, on a small white plate with a blue pattern. Colorado has some of the MOST delicious fruit in the summer!

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Aug 28

Lunch stop in Twin Lakes, early August

Trees, a weathered, grey-blue pickup truck, & a sign (“Tenderfoot Farm”) w/a large & colorful (fake) rooster perched on top, all obscure a distant view of a lake & mountains, a brilliant blue sky, & a few white clouds. A shaded dirt path in the foreground.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Aug 15

Big sky at sunset over the Fresh Pond shopping mall. (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

A Whole Foods market next to a liquor store; in the foreground parked cars lined up. The ground is still wet and shiny from the rain. Above the buildings a large pink, orange & grey cloud looms, reflecting the sunset. Photo from Thursday evening, August 14.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Aug 14

Post your last photo of DC to show what a hell-hole it is.

A worn brick path leading up from the C&O Canal to Georgetown. The sky is blue & the trees, along grass to the left of the path & a wooden rail fence, are bare.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Aug 12

Hydrange-o-mania 🍃🍃

A very large, white, irregularly shaped hydrangea in a small black vase.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Aug 12

mood.

A yellow cup (of coffee) with a dazed, stressed & confused face drawn on it in black. This guy needs help! In the foreground a half-eaten piece of bread & some plum jam on a blue & white plate.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jul 20

Before the Race c. 1882 Edgar Degas, botd in 1834

5 horses in a field, waiting restlessly for the start of the race. Clouds float in a small strip of distant sky. The jockeys are wearing brightly colored silks, & both the men and horses seem to be moving in the painting; it’s almost impossible to shift to seeing the scene as (immobile) oil paint on a panel. (one of the things I really love about Degas)
Bought by Sterling & Francine Clark in 1939.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jul 19

a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Cambridge

Trees mostly in shade, Adirondack chairs in a vibrant red on the lawn in Radcliffe Yard.

Michèle Plott@micheleplott· Jul 18

Portrait of Albert Einstein in a weathered wooden frame; he’s wearing a distinctly vintage-looking spacesuit.