Street Project: Paris

I've accepted that we'll never see everything there is to see nor photograph everything there is to photograph in Paris.  It is so big and its tapestry so rich that it would take ages to experience it all.  But, that won't stop us from trying.

Weekend Away Kit

iPhone 5s

We went back to Paris last weekend for a quick break from the doldrums.  Our train came in late Friday night and we left about mid-day on Sunday, so we really only had Saturday there.  We decided that we'd use the brief visit to explore some of the markets Paris is famous for.  It was also a chance for me to try my hand at street style photography, something I've been itching to do for a while (UPDATE: scroll to the bottom to learn what a giant cluster this actually is).  And, it presented the perfect opportunity to try out the kit I had designed for weekend travels.  Our trips are usually pretty brief.  On average they're 4 days because my husband only has 10 days vacation for the year (The Company has a terrible vacation policy for its American employees, a definite sore point when everyone else in Germany is given 30 by law!).  Sometimes on these brief escapes carrying several bodies just isn't practical or necessary.  One of the reasons I opted for a mirrorless system for my second body was because of the smaller size and increased versatility.  They're perfect cameras for travel.  The kit I came up with for a couple days in Paris was composed of the Fujifilm X-E2 paired with the 35mm lens.  I stuck the 18-55mm lens in the bag for good measure (and because I had the room). I brought along my old Joby GorillaPod, the remote shutter, and, of course, spare batteries and cards.  All of this fit in in a small camera foam partition which slides easily into my 38x12x28cm Vaho Ginkgo bag while leaving room for other daily essentials.  It was the perfect setup for carrying a camera around the city all day and using it easily without hindering or drawing attention to me.

We spent half of Saturday at the Vanves flea market in the 14th arrondissement.  Quality antique flea markets (sadly, a rarity in the States) are a great place for picking up unique and bargain items.  They're also perfect places for watching and photographing people.  The Vanves market seemed populated almost entirely of character actors.  I'm not sure what was more fun, browsing through all oddments or soaking up the scene.

Street portraits are a tricky business (NOTE: more on why at the bottom).  Most people don't like having their picture taken without knowing about it, let alone by a random stranger.  But, candid street portraits present the most realistic presentation of a city's soul, in my opinion.  They're not posed, processed, or planned.  What you see is what you get.  Not all cameras setups can work for this sort of photography.  I can tell you my Canon 600D with the painfully slow 50mm lens and KA-CHUNK KA-CHUNK shutter definitely does not.  But, the X-E2 with the 35mm was perfect for this experiment.  The lens' autofocus is nice and quick and the camera itself can be set up specifically for stealthy street photography.  With all the hustle and bustle in the markets I found myself shooting from the hip more often than not, and was pleased with what the camera captured.  Having dials at my finger tips instead of a menu I had to scroll through made it easy to switch settings in order to capture some of the interesting items for sale as well.

Disorganized bric-à-brac

Keychains

Curiosity

Minibars of a bygone time

The following day we breezed through the Porte de Vincennes food market on our way to the Gare de l'Est and our train home.  We didn't have time to make any purchases, but it was a lively place to wander through on a Sunday morning.  Of course, this neighborhood has been in the news recently because of the tragic events of January 9th.  It didn't feel right to come to Paris without paying our respects to the victims of the dreadful events of two months ago.  The Porte de Vincennes Hyper Cacher kosher market where four Jewish men were executed by the ISIL jihadist Amedy Coulibaly is still closed.  Barricades block access to the building and it is under constant guard by gendarmes.  A month after the attacks a 38 year old man tried to ignite an Israeli flag in front of the store and was immediately arrested.  Concerns for the Jewish population of Paris remain.  Today, bouquets of dead flowers and water filled candles still rest along the barricade.  There were few visitors to the site despite the bustling market across the street that morning.  The store is scheduled to reopen again later this month.  It is unknown if there is a plan to erect a permanent memorial or if when the flowers and candles are cleared away there will be nothing to remind people of what happened here.  In a time when such atrocities are becoming commonplace remembrance is extremely important.

We ended up with some extra time before our train so we wandered over to the Canal Saint-Martin near the train station to watch the boats and enjoy a quiet moment before heading home.

And, of course, train stations are always perfect places for some candids.  Paris's stations are some of the busiest in Europe.  We always arrive and depart from Gare de l'Est and usually wait there for an hour so we can grab lunch or dinner.  I enjoyed being able to snap away from my bench while we waited, capturing the mundane moments of travel and the character of the old station.  We adore train travel and intend to do more of it in the coming year.  Trains are more comfortable, quieter, easier, and fun than flying.  And, spending time in the stations certainly beats the purgatory of airports.  If we can get a train somewhere, we'll take it.

I was really pleased with my choice of kit for our weekend in Paris.  I never used the 18-55mm lens as I enjoyed the creative challenges and payoffs of working only with a fixed focal length.  It was my first extensive use of the 35mm since I received it last month, and its performance for fast paced street photos was impressive.  The old Canon "nifty fifty" has officially been retired.  I also decided to only shoot in black and white.  For me, Paris is striking in monochrome and I have a very hard time thinking of shooting it any other way.  Fujifilm's black and white film simulation has excellent balance and contrast.  Thanks to that and the excellent 35mm lens I didn't need to do anything in post except crop.

The last shot of the weekend was taken back in Frankfurt at the train station as the lowering sun pierced through the glass canopy over the platforms, putting the passing travelers in silhouette.  I snapped it just as we ducked through the exit onto the street bringing a wonderful weekend away in our favorite capital to a close.

The rest of the photos can be viewed on Flickr.

BIG HONKING NOTE:  Some of you may be asking "Hey, you're writing about street candids but I don't see any on here" or "Hey, I looked at Flickr or this post earlier and there were more photos."  Well, you'd be very correct in your observations.  I'm definitely still learning some stuff and this experiment had me crossing a bridge I haven't encountered before with landscapes and cityscapes- European photography laws.  I knew street photography isn't favorably looked upon here in Germany.  Heck, they don't even have Google Streetview in the majority of the country.  More and more street photographers are experiencing hostility (and sometimes assault) from subjects, even in popular public places where people would likely be taking photographs.  Basically it's illegal to publish (yes, even if it's just going online but not for sale) someone's picture in Germany without their permission.  There are exceptions, if it's a public event like a demonstration or a sporting event, if they're a celebrity (but not their kids), if you would be unable to determine their identity in the photo (face is obscured), or if they're a performer.  If there are a bunch of people in the photo (some sources say more than six) it's ok to have them in the picture.  The laws may be changing by becoming more strict in the near future, but that's still up in the air.  So, the picture above is totally fine because you cannot recognize anyone in it due to the lighting.

I didn't even think about this in Paris.  I mean, France is the birthplace of the great street photographers like Cartier-Bresson.  We visited the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation last weekend, for crying out loud.  People are snapping photos all over the city all the time.  But, in reading about the possible change of legislation in Germany, I discovered that France is just as, if not more, strict.  You cannot take someone's photo without their permission at all (except at sporting events, celebrities in a public place).  People own the rights to their faces, basically.  I cannot legally exhibit a photograph taken in France with a recognizable person in it outside of the above exceptions (whew, on the Tour de France stuff!).  There are even some strict laws regarding permanent objects like, for example, the Eiffel Tower.  French photography laws (explained rather well here) are, in short, ridiculous.  They celebrate their pioneers of photography with numerous exhibitions and museums, but then tell modern photographers that they can't practice their art there.  In this day and age of smartphones it's impossible to enforce these laws consistently, but lawsuits do happen- most often in regards to candids of individuals.  It's a sad situation, because in my opinion freedom of expression has been completely stamped out.  This doesn't stop people from taking candids from the hip (and it won't stop me), but it does stop me from showing them to you online, in a book, or on a gallery wall.  Hopefully, one day these laws will be reigned in and all these moments of place and culture captured by street photographers will be legal.  Until then, I'll keep snapping in France and Germany, but, alas, you'll have to schedule a private viewing of the results.  I'm pretty sure HCB is rolling in his grave.  If he were alive today, he would be prosecuted!  C’est n’importe quoi !

Oh, and if you're shooting in Hungary, bring your tripod, ND filters, and remote shutter for your day shots.