A Paris Neophyte
The first car at the taxi stand on the Boulevard St. Germain was Mary Kay Cadillac pink. Madame driver was a cheery, somewhat older woman who thoughtfully played an Edith Piaf tune for me. A pretty fabric basket filled with bon-bons (her word) hung between the two front seats. Dangling from the seat backs were stuffed Micky and Minnie Mouse dolls. On the backs of the rear passenger seats, pillows in a floral print fabric were suspended with an ingenious engineering system.
I was in Paris for the first time and out to find a restaurant for dinner. But I had broken the cardinal rule of photography: Bring the camera. I left the big digital camera, Hasselblad and even the iPhone at the hotel. So, you’ll have to be content with this verbal tale.
Street photography in Paris was an overwhelming subject for this Paris neophyte. What does a German major know about Paris? At the end of the week, the images that resonated caught a bit of joie de vive of the Parisian DNA in unexpected places.
