Street Photography in Paris

This year again, the wealthy families from the Middle East have elected the Champs-Elysées as their main vacation destination. Day long shopping, coffes on the terraces, luxury cars, but also a lot of social activity going on. Indeed young women and men take the opportunity to meet each other on the Avenue, which is often quite a difficult or prohibited event in their home country. I guess that these summer Holidays in Paris will lead to an increase of happy weddings in the Middle East. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Summilux Asph at F2.8, 1/500, ISO200

Luckily for the media, this won’t be a long and boring summer on the news front. Indeed, justice is currently investigating whether the all wealthy Bettencourt family financed the ruling party during the last presidential elections. The House of Bettencourt vs Justice vs the President, what a great and captivating summer thriller for the readers.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon at F2.0, 1/4000, ISO200, ND filter

Today saw the annoucement of the Baccalauréat results all across France. Thousands will now leave high school and start a new life, at work or pursuing a University career. Unluckily, for the roughly 15% that did not pass, another long year is up soon. In the case of this girl walking on Les Champs-Elysées, it looks like she had good news to announce (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Summicron IV at F2.8, 1/500, ISO200

Be it for a pack of cigarette,  a bingo card, an entrecote, or a quick coffee, the Tabac shop down the street will save your day many times.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon at F1.4, 1/1500, ISO640

A homeless man eats his lunch under a light rain. Paris can only shelter him under the form of an umbrella.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Summilux Asph at F1.4, 1/2000, ISO640

Independance comes slowly, but surely. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon at F2, 1/1000, ISO169

Tomorrow is election day as France renews their regional governments. Politics in France is easy : when the blues say black, the reds say white. When the reds say black, then the blues say white. Political parties leaders are only interested in taking power, so blues and reds never work together. Meanwhile groups of red or blue activists travel the streets, with the ingenuousness of those that believe that they can alter the unshakeable order of things.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon at F2.8, 1/250, ISO160

Paperwork is part of any French resident life. So when one forgets about a deadline, he might end up filling up the documents on the mail box in the last minutes. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Summilux Asph at F1.4, 1/350, ISO160

Closed gas stations and people walking in the streets could have become a common sight in Paris as 10% of the French gas stations were out of gas today. This was generated by the general strike of the  oil workers that protested against the closure of a refinery. Be it truck drivers, train employees or oil workers, they feel it is ok to take the whole country as hostage. By doing that, they pressure the government or corporations to concede to their demands, which happened tonight after several days of strike. Good news is there will be sufficient supply of gas tomorrow. But the real good news is hairdressers and engineers still haven’t found their way to blockade the country when they are unhappy. “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” as we say.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Summilux Asph at F4, 1/180, ISO160

The female name of Marianne means a lot to the French as this figure represents the values of the French Republic, namely “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”. After decades of immigration, I guess  that the figure of Marianne could no be a bit more representative of the country’s diversity. Just like in this scene of last Sunday’s Chinese New Year celebrations where local queens were parading in a truck with entangled flags of France and China. Maybe the election of the 2010 Mari-Han ?  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 60mm Hexanon at F1.2, 1/2800, ISO160, ND filter

Paris has been loosing its population for several decades. Indeed the raising prices of housing has slowly pushed the lower and middle class to the suburbs, leaving room for companies to occupy most of the beautiful Haussman style building located downtown. Still, everyday life is still there when one peeps in the patios of the more recent residential complexes in popular neighbourhoods such as Belleville. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Summicron IV at F4, 1/125, ISO160

Boulevard Haussmann where the main shopping centers lay is the place you don’t want to be the day before Christmas. Especially when you are late on your Christmas shopping. You will have to cross jammed streets, go against the flow of shoppers to finally enter the shopping “Nirvana”; the Galerie Lafayette and their famous monumental Christmas tree. (click on picture to enlarge)

All pictures with Leica M9 with 35mm Summilux at F1.4,  ISO640

I had always wondered who was behind these mummy disguises. Indeed, they sometimes stand for hours still in touristic place. Today, I finally got the answer as I witnessed a switch. Not much of a surprise I guess.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 24mm Elmarit at F2.8, 1/125, ISO320

As you ride the metro in Paris, you will at some point encounter gypsy musicians that will throw a quick performance between a couple of stations for a few coins. They then exit the railcar and transfer to the other side of the lane to ride in the other direction. I wonder how one must feel after playing “La vie en rose” dozens of times in a day.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M9 with 35mm Lux Asph at F1.4, 1/30, ISO640

A girl reads out loud Gombrowics’s “Le festin chez la Comtesse Fritouille”, a satire on burgesses.  Young and wild, but for how many years still ? (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M8 with 60mm Hexanon at F1.4, 1/350, ISO160

The French are very assiduous readers. So much that it poses no problem for that man to read his daily newspaper “Le Monde” (which translate to “The World”) while crossing the Pont de Sully Bride in the midst of rain and wind.  (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M8 with 75mm Summilux at F1.4, 1/750, ISO160

A Gipsy mother and her daughter return to the shantytown. Their paper house with no water or electricity is located 100 meters away from the high rise of one of France’s biggest multinational company.  These shantytowns are not permanent as the authorities dismantle them after a few months. Their inhabitants then climb on the next train and go build another camp a few kilometers away. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M8 with 75mm Summicron at F4, 1/750, ISO160

When one visits the magnificient City of Lights, he would be hard pressed to believe that shantytowns can be found only a few miles away. Thousands of Gipsies live close to the shores of the Seine branches, and do their laundry by drawing water out of the River. It is always puzzling to witness such scenes in France in 2009. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M8 with 75mm Summicron at F2, 1/500, ISO160

There are thousands of people living in France without a residency permit. Even though they do work and even sometimes pay taxes, they can be sent off at any moment. So this afternoon, thousands took the street for a large demonstration. When the cortege went through Place la Bastille, it almost felt like another uprise was to happen; the Revolution of the Hiddens. (click on picture to enlarge)

Leica M8 with 28mm Summicron at F2, 1/8000, ISO160

Abortion was legalized in France in 1975. Since then, it has become largely accepted in the French population and does not generate much debate anymore. Nevertheless, a few religious groups keep on defending the “right for life” and organize rallies now and then. Last weekend, they organized a small demonstration in Place Saint-Michel and put themselves to the task of convincing the passerbys on this delicate subject. Not always with success but it generated quite a few passionate debates.  (click on pictures to enlarge)

All pictures taken with Leica M8 and 28mm Summicron, ISO160