Tag Archives: Le Marais

Cameras, Color, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Travel

Paris in October – part 26 – more miscellany – people and streets.

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Some more random Parisian street scenes.

This one is a bit soft because it was a long exposure, hand-held. I think it works, though, because it has a rather dreamy, painterly quality to it. You’re walking through a stone tunnel (in this case the carriageway) and emerging on the other end into a leafy green jungle. It conjures up imaginary adventure stories – where is this place? What awaits in the forest outside the cave? Who is the girl? Where is she going? No matter, I want to follow and find out!

Girl, Courtyard, Marais
Girl, Courtyard, Marais

Here is one of the seemingly omnipresent human statues that you find in major european cities. I love the dynamic going on in the picture. The woman posing with him is having her picture taken, but with the photographer outside the frame, the expressions of the passersby take on an entirely different meaning. And Saint Michel on his perch above the fountain looks like he too is about to pronounce judgment with his sword on the entire affair.

Human Statue, St. Michel Fountain
Human Statue, St. Michel Fountain

The Rue Galande is an alley that runs behind the block where Shakespeare & Co. bookstore is located. It is one of the old medieval streets that survived Haussmannization – the street itself bends and winds, and the building facades seem to mimic the street, teetering back and forth at unsteady angles.

Rue Galande, Paris
Rue Galande, Paris

Shakespeare & Co. is a world-famous bookstore featuring english-language books and catering to the expat community. They have regularly scheduled readings, book signings, and social events in the store, and major literary luminaries stop by when passing through Paris. I love a good bookstore and if I lived in Paris I could see myself spending lots of time in here.

Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore
Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore
Interior, Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore
Interior, Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore
Black and White, Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Travel

Paris in October – part 21 – More Le Marais

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A photographer’s visit to Paris would not be complete without a trip to the Maison Europienne de la Photographie. The primary exhibit was Sebastiao Salgado’s current body of work documenting indigenous ways of life and remote places around the world. It would have been very hard to photograph the exhibit itself as it was VERY crowded, so I turned my lens toward the building. The entrance is a very modern looking (read 1960s style) wing, but the main block of the facility is housed in another one of those 18th century Parisian hotels that once belonged to some noble family.

Staircase, La Maison Europienne de La Photographie
Staircase, La Maison Europienne de La Photographie
Window, Courtyard, La Maison Europienne de La Photographie
Window, Courtyard, La Maison Europienne de La Photographie

After visiting La Maison, my father and I ate here at Les Chimeres for lunch. It was a fairly chilly (for October) day, and you can see Parisian cafe culture at work – despite the chill, people were sitting outside of their own free will. This was true across the city, and in all weather (it took a brisk rain to drive people inside completely).

Les Chimeres Restaurant, Marais
Les Chimeres Restaurant, Marais

Near the Pompidou Centre, I came upon this row of cafe tables set up and waiting for patrons. I know it’s a bit treacly and cliché as photos go, but it’s representative of the place and the atmosphere.

Cafe Tables, Pompidou Centre
Cafe Tables, Pompidou Centre

Around the corner from La Maison and Les Chimeres was this scene. Number 43, Rue Francois Miron. I have no idea if anyone famous or noteworthy lived (or lives) there, but the weathered texture and the irregular symmetry and repeating patterns of the building cried out to be photographed.

43 Rue Francois Miron
43 Rue Francois Miron

I love looking up at buildings – it’s sometimes hard to do, and it forces you to break out of your street-level perspective. In places like New York, where the buildings are so tall, it can almost induce a sort of negative vertigo, but it still behooves us to stop and re-think how we see the world. Plus, you might miss something interesting if you don’t.

Upstairs, 43 Rue Francois Miron
Upstairs, 43 Rue Francois Miron

Again, everything was shot with a Rolleiflex 2.8E, on Kodak Tri-X film.

Black and White, Cameras, Medium Format Cameras, Photography, Travel

Paris in October – Part 20 – Le Marais in Black and White

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Le Marais is one of the few neighborhoods in the city center of Paris that retains its medieval core of narrow wandering streets. It is home to a diverse population from Orthodox Jews to gay pubs and nightclubs. It is full of little art galleries, boutiques, shops and restaurants, where cutting-edge cohabits with the ancient.

The look of the Orthodox Jewish center appears to be late 19th century/early 20th century Art Nouveau, which surprises a bit that it survived the Nazi occupation.

Orthodox Jewish Center, Le Marais
Orthodox Jewish Center, Le Marais

Just across the street and down a half a block is Le Petit Thai restaurant, with its cute elephant sign. I don’t yet know the significance if there is any, to why it seems there are always Thai restaurants in gay neighborhoods.

Le Petit Thai, Le Marais
Le Petit Thai, Le Marais

A beautiful wrought-iron door knocker on a weathered wooden door in the Marais:

Door Knocker, Le Marais
Door Knocker, Le Marais

A man out walking his dog on the Rue Sevigne. The church in the background is the Eglise St. Paul-St. Louis, which housed the hearts of Louis XIII and XIV (after they were dead, of course) until the French Revolution. The current structure dates back to the 17th century.

Dog Walker, Rue Sevigne, Le Marais
Dog Walker, Rue Sevigne, Le Marais

The Marais is perforated with a profusion of residential courtyards which remain invisible to the passer-by unless the massive doors at the street are open. Here is a view into one of these courtyards. They retain a very distinct feel of Old Paris where things are quieter and slower-paced. Entering one feels like stepping back in time, a peaceful oasis utterly cut off from the hustle and bustle of the city outside.

Courtyard Near The Bibliotheque de Paris
Courtyard Near The Bibliotheque de Paris

Eugene Atget took many of his most famous images in and around the Marais as the city was being surrendered to Haussmannization during the Second Empire/Third Republic periods. One of his regular subjects was the Bibliotheque de Paris, originally built as a hotel (town-house for a noble family) in the 17th century. Today it houses the city library. This view is of the entrance gates to the courtyard.

Le Porte du La Bibliotheque de Paris
Le Porte du La Bibliotheque de Paris

A door into the courtyard, marked Sortie (exit). Not too much exiting going on through this door, though, if the giant potted palm visible in the left-hand window has anything to say about it.

Sortie, Bibliotheque de Paris
Sortie, Bibliotheque de Paris

All images shot with my Rolleiflex 2.8E, using Kodak Tri-X film.