The Archive: Week 3 - Paris, France
Sac le Coeur, Paris, France
This weeks Image Retrospective comes from Paris, France. This last spring, as I was on my way to Syria, I was able to spend a week in Paris with my wife. The week that I needed to go, coincided with her spring break from Hopkins - it was perfect timing. Even as we were getting burned out on the East Coast winter and ready for some sun, so were the Parisians, and we hit the entire week with their first warm spring-like temperatures. It was tough to do the typical Paris indoor stuff and we spent most of our time in parks, walking and just catching up.
Why it jumped out: I choose this image over looking Paris with Sac le Coeur behind me simply because of it’s simplicity. This is a good rule of thirds example and I think it shows Paris in a less touristy way; again another solid approach to good travel genre photography - don’t show the tourist spot. The last thing the world needs is another photo of the Sac le Coeur church (the Taj Mahal of Pairs). The New York Times has a weekly section entitled ”Why We Travel”. I think this is a good example of what I’m talking about. Part of good photography is showing people what they don’t expect to see; and it’s no different in travel genre photography. Don’t show your family a photo of the Eiffel Tower, they know what that looks like. Show them a unique photo of just a part of the leg of the tower with tourists taking pictures of it or something. By doing this, you really get a more accurate feeling of what a place is all about. This is what editors like to see. That unique take on something familiar.
Why this photo doesn’t work: I was hoping to get a photo of everyone taking a photo of the church or some other pattern. If the crowd were looking my way or all holding umbrellas or something, it would have been a solid publishable Paris photo. Maybe next time.
