The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is, of course, the icon of Paris, and perhaps of all of France. More often than not, icons of that sort don't really stand up to much scrutiny in person. However, I must say, the Eiffel Tower is actually quite impressive in person. Its graceful and massive lines, especially the base arches, are quite lovely. And when the sun goes down, and the lights go on, well, you can't help but kiss the person next to you.

I love being a travel and editorial photographer!

Cimetiere Pere Lachaise

Paris has a famous cemetery, the Cimetiere Pere Lachaise, known primarily for its famous residents, such as Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde.

We went there on the recommendation of my friend Ben Poundstone, who visits France whenever he can get away. So we headed out to the cemetery, only to discover that it is one of the most fascinating places in Paris. At least for me. In fact, it was the one place that I found truly inspiring and interesting as an artist.

As we explored, I photographed, and am just now working with the images to realize the vision I had for them. The gravestones are little shrines, either for families or individuals, right out of a Tim Burton movie. Shannon and I were postulating that we could imagine the residents of this cemetery coming out of their fantastic little houses at night, after the gates are closed and locked, gathering together for potlucks, getting cranky with each other, returning home before daybreak.


As I’ve worked on the images the past couple days, meditating on them, there are other themes emerging about death and life, light and darkness, mortality and immortality, the temporary and the final.

A sample image from the set:



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Paris

We’ve been in Paris for almost a week now, and are finally feeling acclimated to the place, culture, and language. The expense and exchange rate I’m still not accustomed to, but I’ll get over it. We’re in Paris, for heaven’s sake. The food is wonderful, and I’m enjoying that and the people we’ve met as much as I’m enjoying the sights. In fact, there’s so much to do here, that I have whittled down my expectations: see a few major sights, enjoy the street life, and leave the rest for next time. And that’s sufficient. With so many major museums and tourist attractions here, it can be overwhelming. I’m finding sufficient pleasure in walking the streets, watching the people, and sampling the goodies at the patisserie on every street.

The parks here are the other wonder we’ve enjoyed immensely. Tuileries, Luxembourg, Versailles. The enormity of Versailles is staggering, and we didn’t even go inside the buildings. We’ve read that King Louis XIV had Versailles built to showcase the splendor of the French kingdom. He moved his court from Paris to newly constructed Versailles, including his retinue of 6000 people. You can begin to see why the French Revolution occurred. Considering that none of these lavish parks were publicly accessible, I’d have been pissed if this is what my taxes were paying for, and I couldn’t even go see it.

Here are some things I have seen. I’ve been shooting stock images, and now and then something personally interesting comes along:

In Versailles.

A couple images on the Metro.

This is the courtyard in which our little apartment is located.

I love being a travel and editorial photographer!