April 2013

And Vice Versa Paris, France 2013

Some bathroom wisdom at the Pompidou Center museum.

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The Commuter Paris, France 2013

Not a particularly noteworthy shot except that I found it interesting that no one in the whole bus was facing me except this one young woman. What are the odds?]]>

Underworld Paris, France 2013

Below the busy, glitzy Saturday night Paris streets, along the Seine is a calmer, quieter world. It is quite dark in some areas, which can be a little intimidating especially when there are fewer people around; safety in numbers they say. But it’s actually pretty safe, at least if my walking there almost nightly for three weeks with no hassles is any indication. Well,  there was that one obnoxiously drunk Russian girl who, after her friend had just opened a new bottle of champagne, was very intent on  trying to get me to yell “mosol tov” at the top of my lungs like she was. But that was the worst. (Maybe she wasn’t Russian, I’m not sure. She sounded like it though. But I digress.) I liked walking down along the Seine, especially when I was mostly just out for exercise. It’s much easier walking than pin-balling through the crowds up on the streets. You just have to get used to the smell of urine under certain bridges.]]>

photo book  Hideki Shiota on Adorama’s website. I thought it was a pretty clever set of photos consisting of a combination of street photography and window reflections. You can view more of her work in a similar vein on her Flickr page.]]>

Sacré Coeur From Rue Saint Rustique Paris, France 2013

Wandering around Montmartre one night, I remembered a painting of Sacré Coeur by Maurice Utrillo, so for grins I tried to duplicate it as closely as I could remember by memory. Ignoring that my photo was taken at night rather than during the daytime, I think I did pretty well. Here’s his painting, see what you think:

Church of Le Sacre-Coeur, from Rue Saint-Rustique Maurice Utrillo 1938

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Girl Reading a Book #20 Paris, France 2013

If I remember right, this GRaB series got it’s start, or at least some of it’s earliest images, from our last trip to Paris six or seven years ago. There is still no shortage of girls reading in public in Paris (although not always traditional print media anymore). There are of course also plenty of women, men, and boys to be found reading as well–many of which I photographed this time around. So, I think I’m going to incorporate the GRaB series into a broader series on reading by both sexes and on books in general. I need to think of a good name for the new series, so for now will stick with the old title for this image. A new title is appropriate if for no other reason than I’ve come to think that the current title might be considered somewhat sexist as not all the subjects are young enough for the title “girl” to be totally appropriate (although no one’s called me the issue date). This young woman was reading in the garden at the Rodin Museum. I was bemused by what she was wearing, or more to the point not wearing. We were all trussed up in warm coats, scarves, gloves, and hats to ward off the chill; she on the other hand looked dressed for the spring day we wished it was. Not only that, but she looked comfortable sitting there in that weather. I think that kind of behavior is just another way the young keep  reminding us older folks that we are, well, in fact older.]]>

Small World Paris, France 2013

Walking home through the park that is Notre Dame’s backyard one day we were surprised to see a Japanese all-girl marching band performing. They did several songs while we watched. Appropriately, one was Disney’s “It’s a Small World.”]]>

Dressing for the Occasion Paris, France 2013

I know when the Fashion Queen goes out, she carefully plans her wardrobe to match the occasion. I wonder if this woman did the same.]]>

Outlook Paris, France 2013

Did you notice how there’s essentially no one in this cafe scene who seems to be looking away from the camera? A couple of folks in a side view, but no one facing the opposite direction from the camera. This is the standard setup for the outdoor seating areas of cafes in Paris. It’s all about the spectacle of people watching. I was surprised that with all the scrutiny us folks on the streets seemed to be getting, rarely did it even seem to register on them that they were being watched too–and photographed. Or maybe they did and just didn’t care. There are so many cameras being brandished by tourists like myself, that people get desensitized to them.]]>

Cafe Still Life Paris, France 2013

It’s four o’clock in the morning here in Bozeman, but part of my body anyway still recognizes that it is noon in Paris. I didn’t want to be up but couldn’t sleep, so here I am up and at it. Maybe I’ll shoot for a nap later–which should really screw up the jet-lag thing. I took this photo one day while we were eating lunch at a brasserie on St. Germaine Blvd. It was probably right after visiting a museum with lots of old Dutch still life paintings which I admire a lot and of which this arrangement has some passing similarities (albeit without the usual collection of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and dramatic side lighting).]]>