• View from Louis XIII statue Place des Vosges on Vik Muniz's Pictures of Garbage
    Photography-Art,  Seeing Paris

    Paris Design Week is Too Short!

    While taking a shortcut through Place des Vosges, my eyes saw photographs. They really saw pictures of garbage. Place des Vosges is on annual exhibition circuit for Paris Design Week. Paris Design Week is too short! Over 350 exhibitors and I only saw three in two days! "Pictures of Garbage", new types of flooring in a bench display, and artsy designs in the Orangerie. You can't just pass on by, you have to stay and study and enjoy!

  • Poster for the exhibition Man Ray et la Mode Musée du Luxembourg
    Let's Explore,  Photography-Art

    Man Ray: Fashion Photographer

    Before there was Helmut Newton or Richard Avedon, there was Man Ray. From a fashion perspective and as fashion photographer, Musée du Luxembourg explores the body of Man Ray's fashion work. In the display cases, this exhibit follows his Parisian fashion trail with gowns featured in the Harper’s Bazaar magazine. I highly recommend downloading the Musée du Luxembourg audio guide to explore the exhibit virtually. Even after the exhibit closes, the audioguide remains active. Some images from my visit are below the videos. You begin with his early surrealist works and move quickly into his work with, photographer, Lee Miller...keep reading

  • Image of brasserie Le Renard and tabac neons
    Photography-Art,  Seeing Paris

    Bright Colors: Paris Evening Lights

    A week after seeing a part of Paris in black and white, it was time to focus on bright colors. Along the way, I recalled other ways to view the evening light in reflections and patterns. I was one of seven photographers who followed a spontaneous route from the Metro Temple along Rue de Turbigo, off and on Rue du Temple, toward Arts et Métiers (museum), rue du Renard (fox) down to l'Hotel de Ville and the Pont d'Arcole. On the bridge....

  • Cat in construction area at night
    Let's Explore,  Photography-Art

    Paris Evening, Walking in Black and White

    Paris has an aura when the lights dim on a moist evening. With a group of photographers on an evening shoot, the black and white theme had four criteria: reflection, near and far, silhouette and/or en marche (walking, movement). An image could have any or all of these criteria. We began at Place Igor-Stravinsky and walked through the first, second and third districts/arrondissements... click on the title to read more and see the images

  • Willy Ronis exhibition Photo album in English and French for sale at exhibition
    Let's Explore,  Photography-Art

    Willy Ronis-Views of Belleville Menilmontant in Paris

    Sometimes a photo can make us curious, inspire us or wish we could find something.... By the time my sister saw the photos of my vintage chinaware, it was too late. I had already donated the set to Emmaus. I needed it back for her! The trek to one of the Emmaus stores (Goodwill-style shops founded in 1954 by Abbé Pierre) took me to the north of Paris and the Porte de Menilmontant in the 20th arrondissement. "If I am going to the 20th", I pondered, "why not check out local art exhibits in the area?" That thought and a quick look at l'Official des spectacles, took me to the…

  • Place des Vosges lawn with art work on COP21 theme from Ateliers Beaux Arts, Ville de Paris art courses
    Let's Explore,  Photography-Art

    Place des Vosges as an Art Gallery

    Art galleries surround Place des Vosges. I enjoyed an art gallery set up on the park grounds the other day. On my way to Monoprix Saint Paul, the colorful stakes with art in their wood rectangles contrasted with the grey sky.... Reading further about the beaux-arts ateliers on line, they are not all leisurely art classes. Les Ateliers Beaux-Arts offers preparatory classes for students preparing for higher studies in career arts....

  • 2 posters for Qui a Peur des femmes photographes and Splendeurs et Misères
    Museum exhibitions,  Museums,  Photography-Art

    A Century of Working Women-3 Paris Exhibits

    Constrained by social norms or cultural tradition, women working outside the home in the mid to late 1800s walked a fine line when wanting to earn a living. Three Paris exhibitions follow the working life of women for almost a century from 1839 to 1945. All three are exploring subjects assembled for the first time. "Qui a peur des femmes photographes" (until January 24, 2016) is the first gender-based exhibition in France and "Splendeurs et Misères, Images de la prostitution 1850-1910" (until January 17, 2016) "Splendeurs..." is the first time a museum is dedicating an entire exhibition to prostitution. Within this article you will find a synopsis of the three…

  • Friday, November 20, a week after the Paris attacks. The Eiffel Tower is specially lit in red, white and blue until November 25
    Events and Trade Shows,  Life in Paris & France,  Photography-Art

    Paris Scenes – A Rainy November Night

    A week after the Paris attacks I went out to see if anyone else was out. Along the Champs-Elysées the cars were moving along as usual, the Ferris wheel was turning. They switched on the lights along the avenue a day later than planned. Not many wandered the the Village de Noël Christmas market lanes and sidewalks. Walking toward the Seine, Dior along the Avenue Montaigne had the most spectacular decoration among illuminated trees. Catching the bus from Alma-Marceau to Trocadéro, the Eiffel Tower ...