From Kazakhstan, with love...

As you're all aware, I'm sure, it's currently the week of Kazakhstan in Paris ;-)) and, well I could not miss that, of course. So I went by the Louvre where they have a big exhibition - and a stage to listen to Kazakhstan music! - and well, it was the occasion to meet NOT camera shy people, which is a nice change from Parisians... The tents in the back are Yurts, a sort of local condominium... Have a great Sunday everyone, in Kazakhstan and everywhere in the world ;-)

Mythical Orient Express

If you come to Paris before the end of August and want to see what the original Orient Express train looks like, you only need to go to the IMA (Institut du monde arabe) and visit the exhibit they're having at the moment. The Orient Express is still a mythical train for us Europeans. It used to go from Paris to Istanbul (Constantinople before 1930)  in "as little as"  80 hours or so! No wonder it stopped in 1977... The SNCF (French railway company) wants to reopen the line eventually and turn it into a high-end "cruise".   

The wonderful world of Dorothée's

I'm sooooooooo glad I discovered the photo work of Dorothée Shoes (who, despite her name is French!), for it's really fantastic. Her shots are currently exhibited on the grids of the Parc de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement and they are all stunning. Fortunately you don't have to come to Paris to see them, you can have a sneak preview here. I'm sure you'll agree with me.

Photo quais

Every two years, in front of the musée du quai Branly, a large open air photo exhibition takes place. It's called "Photoquais", it's free and it's really worth the look. I went there before my departure to Denver and I did not regret it. More than 40 photographers from everywhere but Europe were featured around one and single theme "Look at me"! Tempted? Too late, the exhibition closed on the 17th of November, but you can still see some of the photos on their website.

The Pursuer!

I know that a lot of you will prefer what's in the background in this photo (the beautiful Place Vendôme at sunset), but... I'm sure you also like modern art! So here is one of the twelve statues by Taiwanese artist Li Chen (李真) that are currently on display all around the Place. This one is called The Pursuer and believe me it's really beautiful (and difficult to photograph!) Have a look at some other ones here...

Et's woodywood sister

Like every year the French wood industry goes on a promotion tour and brings a whole forest to the Parisians. It's planted at place du Palais Royal until September 22nd and there are no less than 20 000 (small) trees on display (well, so they say... I did not count them all myself!). I'm not so much a tree person, but I thought that their idea of building a wood ET was kind of funny. So here you go... Enjoy! (This one cannot be visited though...)

When farmers invade Paris!

Here we go again... Like every year Paris welcomes the "largest farm in the world" (aka Le Salon de l'agriculture) at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center. Officially, it's a trade show, but it's also visited by a wider public, including families with kids who can see for themselves what a steak looks like when it's alive! It's also the occasion to witness some interesting French traditions, like these Bergers Landais (shepherds from the Landes region) that used to watch their sheep perched on stilts (the Bergers were on stilts, not the sheep!)! 

Animals you don't need to walk!

This Saturday I went to Le jardin d'acclimatation, a small amusement park located in Le bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement. Like in all amusement parks you can find merry-go-rounds, roller coasters, car racing, shooting stands... but it's also an educational park where children can see animals, attend various workshops and... walk through unexpected exhibits, like these funny shaped animals designed by Guili Guili and made of recycled metal. Here is the one I thought was the cutest, but I photographed and filmed several other ones, that are just as cute! Have a look on the PDP Youtube channel.

Hide and seek with the Eiffel Tower!

I went to the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine, a superb musuem dedicated to architecture, to attend a temporary exhibit about Henri Labrouste, a leading architect who got famous in the 1800's. The exhibit was great (I love architecture) and I learned a lot of things, thanks to the guide who gave us a tour. This museum is located at place du Trocadero and on the way out, I could not help but taking a "stolen" photo of the Eiffel Tower, from inside the museum. I kinda like it ;-)

United Buddy Bears

Bears invaded Paris this past week... Not real ones of course, but the United Buddy Bears, fiberglass painted sculptures that aim at promoting peace in the world (no less!). Each of them (140!) represent a country and, as such, were decorated by a local artist. After being first shown in Berlin in 2002, they have been everywhere:  Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Pyongyang.... and as of October 12, 2012 Paris, and more precisely the Champs de Mars, by the Eiffel Tower! Pretty cool actually. I photographed half of them, so see for yourself in this little video. 

Paris through Hollywood's lense

What do "The Three Musketeers", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "the Aristocats" or "Da Vinci Code" have in common? They all take place or feature Paris! Apparently there are about 800 American films that have Paris for scenery and the Paris town hall is currently honoring them in an exhibition that can be visited until December 15. A great idea! Find out more here (in French only!) or here where 5 main films are commented by Antoine de Baecque, the exhibition curator

Paparazzi!

Yesterday evening I was lucky enough to go to a fantastic exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo (and drink a glass of Roederer Champagne!). What was it about? Stolen photos, taken by two famous French paparazzi: Bruno Mouron and Pascal Rostain who met and worked at Paris Match magazine for a long time, before creating their own agency. In France - and probably everywhere - stolen photos of famous people ("Les Pipoles", as some people call them here!) - are highly controversial. But when you look at them at an exhibit, years after they were taken, they have a different flavor. I could not help, but being inspired by the theme of the evening... so I took a "paparazzi" photo to! If my French visitors look carefully, they will see a... "pipole" in this photo!

Playing with Europe

In front of the town hall there was until today an exhibition targeted at kids, dedicated to... Europe. They probably organized it a long time ago, and though it's wonderfully timely, as, as you may have heard in the news, Europe is once again at jeopardy. Greece has no more government, Spain and Portugal have a huge debt problem, and France and Germany have to negotiate on the latest treaty. It's not easy to build a new country... BTW, how good is your European Geography (I scored 55)?

Doisneau exhibit at Hotel de Ville

It's cold and rainy in Paris at the moment (which might explain why I have a terrible cold right now!), but it's also a good occasion to take interesting photos... Hence this one, that I took at Hotel de Ville today right under a poster that promotes the Doisneau exhibit they currently have there. Not surprisingly this exhibit is very successful, that is why people have to line up, even when it's rainy!

The most expensive book in the world!

You have a lot of money you don't know what to do with? Let me help you... Tashen, a publisher that is usually known for offering beautiful books at a very reasonable price, is currently showing in its Paris store, this 464 page "sumo" book (26.7 x 37.4 cm or 10.5 x 14.7 in.) in which you can find most of the photographs by Helmut Newton. Stunning! Why is it on display in the Paris Tashen store at the moment? Because there is a huge Helmut Newton exhibit at Le Grand Palais at the moment... Last but not least, you can buy it for as little as 10,000 euros/dollars!

Paris Art fair 2012

Like I mentioned a few days ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Paris Art fair 2012 last Friday at the Grand Palais, when it was just the opening and not yet too busy. I was in a rush so I could not see everything, but my eyes got caught by the work of Petr Lovigin, a Russian Photographer who was featured on the Galerie Clair stand. I could not find much about him on the web (well not much in English and I don't speak Russian!)... As always, I find it very hard to take photos of photos, so this time I played on the format and the composition of my photo. I kinda like it, even though it's not very original!

The hidden treasures of Doisneau

Am I lucky? Yes, a little bit! Yesterday evening (Monday), I had the opportunity of going to the opening of a great exhibition, where several unknown photos by Doisneau were presented! How is that possible? Well simply because he took a zillion shots and it's only recently that his daughters decided to dig them out from where they were sleeping... Stunning as always, but you have to go to the Artcurial gallery (at the bottom of Les Champs Elysées) to see them all ;-)

AI Wei Wei takes over Paris

Berenice Abbott was not the only Exhibit at the Jeu de Paume museum yesterday... On the first floor there was another one going on, a more political one, a more provocative one... It featured the work of Ai Wei Wei (艾未未) ; a Chinese activist who spent some time in the US in the 80's. He went back to China in 1993 and  started criticizing the regime through his art and on a blog that is now closed, but which photos are presently exhibited in Paris at the moment (after many other places). The place was packed, but I managed to take this photo, that I love.

Berenice Abbott exhibit opening

Last evening I went to a photo exhibit opening at the Jeu de Paume museum (located in the Tuileries gardens at Place de la Concorde). The exhibit was about Berenice Abbott, a photographer my American visitors may know of, for she was American and famous for her black and white photos of New York. The reason why I went to this opening last night is that it was staged by my friend Nino Comba who I already featured on this blog a few years ago on the occasion of a Nuit Blanche event. Some may also have recognized the mystery visitor in the photo ;-)

The world of Doisneau

When you think of Doisneau, you probably have in mind black and white photos and more particularly this one... And though he also made a few shot in color as the current exhibit about his work at Les Halles (the former "belly of Paris", like Emile Zola used to call it - that is the place where all the food for Parisians was traded) during the 60's shows it. I have not seen the exhibit yet, but I will! More on the Paris.fr website...