Paris Part One
November 26th, 2009
After a few days to digest my excellent weekend in Paris, and edit my images, I can positively say that I’ll be putting more cash aside for weekends away in the future. Paris conjures up all sorts of ideas of romance, love stories, fashion and glamour and, in many parts of the city, this is easy to see. Through it’s architecture, art and fashion-laden streets, beautiful people, public art, open spaces, long walks and drinking wine al-fresco in the evening light while watching the people pass by…
The magazine racks are filled with glossy fashion, art and photography monthlies, few chocolate bars in sight, and plenty of cigarettes. The women walk with such attractive confidence, and lack a cemented layer or make-up and fake tan. The men always dress well, and each is rarely without a companion; the streets are littered with couples.
While this is true, like all major cities, there is an obvious darker side to Paris; beggers and street merchants at every tourist trap. The ones who are very persuasive, and refuse their faces in photographs. It’s nothing a trip through the Metro can’t solve.
Day one was spent at the Paris Photo Festival at Le Carrousel du Louvre where much time was spent staring at incredible photography from around the world. Notebook in-hand, there was a lot of inspiration to make note of.
Those who stuck out for me included: Pieter Hugo, Rhona Bitner, Jodie Bieber, Stéphane Couturier, Milkhael Subotzky, Danielle Levitt, Marion Poussier, Rita Barros, Jean-Christian Bourcart, Farragh Nosh, Raymond Depardon, Larry Sultan, Julie Blackmon, Elliot Erwitt, Yves Rozet, Josef Hoflehner, Andreas Feininger, Nontsikelelo Veleko, Nelli Palomaki, and Sohei Nishino and many others.
While I did take a few images of the tourist traps; steel structures, churches, apartments lining the streets, shop fronts and museums, I did my best to see beyond that and focus on smaller things, yet those which also have a large impact on residents and tourists alike, with much of the emphasis on the Metro system and my general love of underground railway networks. These will follow in the next few days.
