Thursday, May 24, 2007

Walking down the Champs Elysées...


I took this photo on the Champs Elysées on the day Nicolas Sarkozy became officially President. There is not much to say about it, just that I like it very much 1) because of the way the policemen march - looking like a caterpillar! and 2) because I trapped this girl on the foreground.

30 comments:

  1. What a beautiful French girl!

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  2. Eric - there is a tension between the young woman and the soldiers that gets my attention. She seems sad, defeated, resentful of the soldiers. The armor on their left arms makes me think of anime warrior robots. Very good eye, as we say.

    Bob

    St. Louis Missouri Daily Photo Blog

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  3. Yes, just wondering what is she thinking about?

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  4. WOW. That's a lot of police. And their uniform certainly has changed a lot over the years!

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  6. A great photograph tells a story that lingers. This one does it in spades. Bravo. You are remarkable.

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  7. Once again Eric, you have enough reason to like your own photo. This is great. The contrast between the police and the heavy clothing and the sweetness of the girl is amazing.

    À propos, last year when I was in Paris I noticed some men from the army - at leat they had an army uniform - in some special points of the city, such as the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, the airport.
    They walked in pairs and carried a heavy weapon. Is it a common thing in Paris?

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  8. I think maybe she is talking on a cell phone. Probably oblivious to the line of warriors passing before her. A twist on the Girl From Ipanema, men walking by her but she just doesn't see.

    The arm protection is tres Road Warrior. Great photo.

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  9. lora is right a beautiful girl!!. The tension between the girl and the policemen is good capture or builed up in the picture. Here in Rotterdam Sarkozy is everyday in the newspaper with a half page.

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  10. very good shot and it looks like 2 photographs, an imaginary vertical line separting the girl and the policemen highlighting the beautiful girl

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  11. Très Nouvelle France Sarkozienne !… Je vais l'envoyer à Ratib. Il va adorer !!!
    ;o))

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  12. Good shot! It's a perfect photo to illustrate the day Sarkozi became president as this kind of photo should show up more often for the five next years -__-

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  13. Pensez-vous qu'elle était si triste parce qu'elle a préféré un président féminin de la République ?
    Vraiment, elle semble triste et pensive. Une si belle photo, Eric.

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  14. Nice face.

    Eric, i have to tell you that most mornings when I go for my swim, the lane next to me is occupied by someone who is your twin! (Or at least your twin from your photo here). So, I dubbed him "Eric" in my mind. After a year or so, we finally introduced ourselves today, and I have to re-name you Renato, I am afraid!

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  15. LOL Sally. Who knows, ,I may have a twin in Australia, but I doubt it seriously though...

    Did you tell him? It would be funny to know if he thinks we look the same...

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  16. ah haha Renato is a very popular name here! I think Eric has several CLONES all over Paris so that he can be in all those different places at the same time and take photos for us.
    Maybe one of his clones has escaped to Australia!

    Jeff, lol, the song is perfect for this girl and the scenary! Very good!

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  17. The jeune femme may be, justifiably, in fear. Those cops are the CRS (Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité), famous for raping female students during the near-revolution of May '68.

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  18. nice angle :) did you take one of the policemen marching?

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  19. I love your blog, Eric. Just look at all the different perspectives on the photo. It interests me that we fear police. Surely, as Expat notes, there are historical reasons. But if a criminal attacks me, I will be very happy to see heavily armed police arrive to stop the attack.

    Eric captured a dreamy, absent moment in the woman's life. That's why I think she's on the phone, ignoring her immediate surroundings. How can anyone not watch these police walk by? She's busy with somebody else, that's why. Now, Eric, was she on a cell phone?

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  20. This young woman was not alive in 1968.

    Sorry to disagree with you again, Jeff, but seeing that much riot police walk around is not necessarily reasuring. Their job is to do crowd control and when they do that, they charge on everything that moves including the innocent bystanders. There were many "innocent" people hurt in the demonstrations of 1968. And it's not necessarily a personal thing. Some of them might be nice guys just doing their job, but when they start throwing tear-gas bombs aroud, damn, you sure as heck don't wanna be anywhere nearby, trust me.

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  21. This photo strikes me as odd in light of the photo of the Sarkozy parade the other day. Here, the police are all armored up to the nines, but Sarkozy was just riding around in a convertible, completely unprotected. Tres bizarre!

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  22. tomate, truely innocent bystanders should put distance between themselves and those intent on causeing trouble. This body protection is defensive, similar to but not as confrontational as plastic shields. Better to be prepared than regretful.

    Why is there now concern of Sarkozy from some in this blog when prior to election it seemed mainly concern of Royal?

    I think she is on the phone and oblivious to police, just taking a quiet moment for conversation, or more percise, listening.

    State of OK.

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  23. Monica I really wish I had clones!!

    I don't know Jeff if she was on the phone, actually it's only after downloading the pic that I realized I trapped her in the photo.

    It was a very quiet moment actually for Sarkozy had gone for about 10 minutes already and the Police was kinda retreating. I went up the Champs to go back to the Metro and rush to my office and then I saw them so I grabbed my cam and took this photo.

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  24. Whatever the situation, it's a wonderful photo. I think you should flag it as one of the more thought-provoking shots, regardless of one's approach to it. I love it that you discovered her in the photo only later.

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  25. "tomate, truely innocent bystanders should put distance between themselves and those intent on causeing trouble."

    Anonyme: you're absolutely right, and that is the best course of action, of course; however it's not always possible to know before hand where trouble is going to come from. Sometimes, you're just minding your own business, and all of a sudden you walk right into it.

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  26. Tu l'as déjà dit: L'expression de la jeune fille. Elle ne semble pas trés heureuse. And the policemen marching, martial ...

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  27. Eric, actually a clone wouldn´t do. You´re unique!

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  28. what a great photo, very poignant, you can read so many things into this scene.....the lady looks like my stereotype vison of a beautiful well dressed parisian! ☆

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  29. Great photo. It almost looks like two different photos.

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  30. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ERIC!

    POLICEMEN!!!!!!!

    You sure know how to wake me UP!!! LOL! ;)

    HEY! Long time no SEE!!!!

    I think I'm BACK!

    Watch OUT!

    =)))
    XO

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