A woman in a navy headscarf looks through binoculars; Monaco harbour and a superyacht are reflected in both lenses

Lux Parallax

Inspired by Jason Brooks & Soviet propaganda illustration

Paris

Monaco

Capri

New York

A life in sixteen scenes

Scroll

A Paris apartment: tall French windows, wrought-iron balcony, white roses on the table

I — Paris, 08:00

Morning on the Rive Droite

White roses every Monday. The windows open onto rue de Rivoli.

II — Departure, Avenue Montaigne

The car is waiting

A dark grey convertible, seen head on
A woman in a black dress and headscarf opens the car door

Chauffeur at nine. The luggage left yesterday.

A woman in sunglasses and a headset sits in a white helicopter beside the pilot

III — Above it all

Twenty minutes to Nice

Headset on. Phone on silent. The coast below, all of it.

Corniche

A silver convertible takes a cliff road above a white town and a blue bay

IV — The Corniche

Top down, nobody in a hurry. Lunch is wherever we stop.

Monaco from the sea: the Rock, the towers of Monte Carlo, two superyachts at anchor
A teak runabout flying the Monaco flag cuts across the bay

V — Monaco, noon

Monaco by sea

Port Hercule to Cap Martin in eleven minutes.

A glass villa among cypress trees above a lake; a white speedboat passes below

VI — Lake Como

The villa above the water

Cypress, gravel, a scarf in the wind. The boat is never late.

Hillside town and a tender with two swimmers
The white bow of a superyacht
A woman in a white swimsuit dives from the bow

VII — Cap Ferrat

One clean dive

Twelve metres from the bow. Applause from the tender.

Sky, sea and a teak deck, with superyachts on the horizon A woman in a blue bikini and wraparound sunglasses sunbathes on a white cushion

VIII — La plage

Noon. Nothing scheduled.

A woman in a black zip-front swimsuit and sunglasses wades out of turquoise water

IX — Out of the blue

Back to the boat

Forty metres, a white hull, a helicopter on the aft deck.

On a yacht deck off the Faraglioni rocks, two women lounge on cushions while a steward brings drinks

X — Faraglioni, Capri

XI — Aft deck, 19:40

L’heure bleue

A Negroni, stirred over a single cube. Backgammon in mother-of-pearl, and the Faraglioni turning from gold to violet.

A man with a towel over his shoulder holds a glass of water
A steward in white carries a tray of drinks
At night a woman in a black one-shoulder swimsuit stands at the yacht rail, her shadow on the glass behind her

XII — After dark

The deck lights come on one by one.

Through a diner window, a woman in black drinks coffee; yellow cabs and the Empire State Building outside

XIII — Madison Avenue, 07:10

New York

Black coffee, sunglasses on the table, the city still blue.

A porter in a peaked cap wheels two navy trunks on a trolley
A woman in a periwinkle dress and black scarf carries a small case

XIV — The night train

Trunks first

Platform two, under a full moon. Sleeper to Venice.

Black and white: a man in black tie holds the car door as a woman in a sparkling dress and fur stole steps out

XV — Arrival, 22:40

Black tie

Flashbulbs, a fur stole, the door held open.

Black and white: a crowded masked ball, guests in black tie and eye masks
The same masked ball in colour, champagne glasses raised

XVI — The masked ball

Midnight, in colour

Lux Parallax

Inspired by Jason Brooks & Soviet propaganda illustration — v1.12

Illustrations used under licence