“Therefore we have to go over the fact that all human beings are afraid by what is new. It is our work to convince them that they will enjoy it, and even if they don’t, to allow us just for 14 days to create that work of art.”

— Cristo

Paris part 3 - Wrapped

October 03, 2021 in Black & white photography, fine art photography, street photography

Why? The first question everyone I tell about the wrapped Arc de Triomphe in Paris asks. Why would anyone do it. I confess I asked myself the same question when I heard the ‘unveiling’ or perhaps the veiling of the Parisian landmark will take place 2 days before we return from out trip to Paris.

“Bring joy and beauty to the people” is all Cristo would agree to say in all interviews I could watch on YouTube. “All other meanings are propaganda”. Joy and beauty to the people. OK. I am one of the people, aren’t I? On September 19th, the day no cars allowed in center Paris, I decided to experience the joy and beauty. And?

It was certainly enlightening, surreal and ….funny. The silvery cloth shimmering in the light emphasized the size of the monument, like a huge elephant in the midst of a constant river of people. Beautiful? Not sure about that but definitely impressive. And the people, their reaction to the wrapped monument were between hilarious ( adults looking behind the cloth to see what’s there ?? ) and bizarre ( climbing on the monument, an elderly woman??). More than one person covering itself in cloth, standing there to be photographed. By strangers in the crowd, by people with professional looking cameras.

What do you think of when looking at the photo of the covered person. once we can not see whether it is a man or a woman. Black or white. Once it is just a human shape. What differs looking at this person covered compared to looking at the same person without the cover? Is it the same for the monument? And if it is, and the act of wrapping it makes us stop and look at it with different eyes, make us ask different questions, is this art? Art worth 14M Euro?

“Above all, I craved to seize the whole essence, in the confines of one single photograph, of some situation that was in the process of unrolling itself before my eyes.”

— Henri Cartier-Bresson

Paris part 2 - Les Nounours des Gobelins

September 27, 2021 in Black & white photography, fine art photography, psychology

What is more Parisian than having a cup of coffee or a drink watching the passers by? At any other time I came to Paris, cafés were full, barely a spare seat. But this is 2021. The cafes are half empty even on a late Sunday morning, and the customers seem to have changed ….Despite the negative aspects of the situation it is hard not to smile looking at these huge teddy bears, therefore on the last day of the trip, I could not resist a ‘bear hunt’ in the Gobelin area.

Paris of 2021, with its Notre Dame covered by scaffolding, its Arc de Triomphe wrapped ( more about that in the next post) and the huge Teddy Bears is so symbolic of the changes we experience all around us. Makes you wonder if it will ever go back to being the city it used to be a mere 2 years ago.

““Night does not show things, it suggests them. It disturbs and surprises us with its strangeness. It liberates forces within us which are dominated by our reason during the daytime.””

— Brassai

Paris part 1 - Paris nights

September 23, 2021 in Black & white photography, fine art photography, street photography

Paris. Paris at night. Still beautiful, yet different. The crane beside the Notre Dame, the masks, bears sitting alongside people at the cafe. Yet the alleys remained the same, the restaurants in the Quartier Latin still have their own charm and serve the fondue that I love. And Saint Chapelle ….renders me speechless every time.

“I think Paris smells not just sweet but melancholy and curious, sometimes sad but always enticing and seductive. She’s a city for the all senses, for artists and writers and musicians and dreamers, for fantasies, for long walks and wine and lovers and, yes, for mysteries.”

— M.J.Rose

In the city of lights, beauty and...rats

October 15, 2019 in Black & white photography, fine art photography, street photography

Charming and irresistible,

Filled with history, art, food

…. and a very french sense of humor ( Memoirs of a rat???)

Walking its street, is like stepping into a Dumas books, suddenly touching the house named after Henry the 3rd. Rendered speechless by Sally Mann’s exhibition at Jeux de Paume - which is the reason for being here.

There are many beautiful cities in the world, but only one Paris.