Ah, Those Reticent Parisians
08.11.2012
One of the things Americans seem to believe about Parisians is that they are reticent, aloof, hard to approach.
In some ways, that's true, but it's just that they aren't Americans. Smiles here are earned, not just passed out freely. You know that ubiquitous yellow happy-face that first appeared in the U.S. in the late Sixties? Parisians keep their Metro faces on until you've said or done something that earns a happy face.
As for being hard to approach, if you walk up speaking English, and just speak louder when you're not being understood, you're not going to make friends in any land. But if you approach the French with some phrases in their language, like "Hello" (Bonjour) and "How are you?" (Comment ça va?), you're likely to get a smile and a Ça va bien, et vous? in return.
As a photographer, Richard is out in the streets for hours a day most days. His French is improving, but he's still shy about using it, and even shyer about just sticking his camera into people's faces.
But often the Parisians are not equally shy. Richard will take a photograph of some object, like these clouds above the Luxembourg Gardens, and a group of boys will run up and clamor to have their pictures taken.
Such "intrusions" happen surprisingly often, and people love to smile for the camera. Even more surprisingly, they don't ask for a copy. It seems to be enough that they got their picture taken.
This week's Paris Play is dedicated to those non-reticent Parisians, who, with gesture, word or deed, asked or demanded or cajoled Richard to take their picture. These are the people who chose to pose--some of them literally jumped in front of the camera. His notes on the photos are in the captions.
I'm having a cappuccino at a local cafe, and she just walks up and sticks her face in the lens. How could I say no?
This kid was the ringleader of the Luxembourg boys seen in color above. They were far too cool to ask for the photos, but the girl they were with asked for them, so I e-mailed copies.
This guy was the one who asked that I shoot him and his arms-folded buddy in the doorway above. I think they went to arms-folded school together.
He was saving a parking space for a patron of a neighborhood cafe. Good gig, done with panache.
I was shooting storefronts on the Boulevard Sebastopol, and she waved me over to immortalize her and her companion.
I thought he was annoyed that I was shooting his construction site, and we didn't have a common spoken language. But then he did this.
She liked her hat; I liked her necklace, which reminded me of street art.
There's a surprising amount of hazing in French schools, during which one is forced to dress up, or down, and be humiliated in public. This guy seems to be making the best of it.
Soccer (football, or foot) is the top sport here, but hoop dreams are moving up fast.
This is my favorite clochard, who lives under a building overhang on the rue St. Jacques. Always cheerful, a people person.
These friends were returning to a worksite that I had just finished shooting.
I was shooting the drama/comedy masks carved into the front of a theater building when she ran up, skinned knees and all, and struck this pose. I shot, and she ran off, giggling, pink backpack bouncing up and down.
Reticence, what's that? I did a sunrise shoot on Montmartre, around 7:30 a.m., and these folks were on their way home from partying all night. But first they had to pose. Later, he mooned me, but that shot is not for our family-friendly publication.
Reader Comments (28)
I love to see the words and images of my favorite expats capturing a city I first saw in 1991.
Damn I need to travel more. Thanks for sharing your adventures and thoughts, because they inspire me a great deal.
Who knows, maybe I'll runaway to another country sooner rather than later. Richard, I especially love the photos of the kids and the people in the hats, and the menage a trois party people. The Yankees may be my least favorite baseball team and yet to see their logo on a Parisian makes me inordinately happy. Lovable paradox, right?
Sometimes, it's just nice to fall back into loving hands. That's what reads in each of those photos.
Fantastic, beautiful shots and captions!
Absolutely wonderful!!! Love all the photos (and the clouds behind the mugging teens) and the captions as well!
Magnifique!! Thanks you two!!
Dear Betsy,
So great to hear from you. You could probably easily earn a living in Paris--we hear there is much demand for yoga teachers. Jump on over the pond!
We keep meeting Parisians who love NYC or L.A. or San Francisco. These are the three places we hear mentioned most often. We like hearing which photos you were drawn to and why. A lovable paradox: c'est toi!
XOXO,
Kaaren & Richard
Dear Anna,
I thank you and Richard thanks you! And we need to catch up on each other's news this week.
Much love,
Kaaren & Richard
Jessica:
Many thanks. Aren't Parisians fun?
--Richard and Kaaren
Suki:
Thank YOU. We have such fun living here, it just spills out into Paris Play week after week.
And (two days early) Happy Birthday!
Much love,
Kaaren and Richard
Love them all!! and especially the precious little girl who put her face up to your lens !! Thanks for posting so many wonderful photos !
You two do have fun.
Love Betsy Storey
Betsy,
Thank you! I bet she'll grow up to be a performer.
And yes, we do have fun.
Love,
Kaaren & Richard
Kaaren & Richard,
Richard, the images you capture... or do they capture you? I am curious about how this happens for you, that you find these moments and images. The clouds sharing your lens with the mugging males manage to complement one another without sacrificing a thing. You captured the huge, powerful presence of the little girl at the cafe. Your photos expand my kinesthetic world, encouraging me to "see".
And Kaaren, I might start experimenting with the metro face. :))) I've lost it already... laughing just thinking about it. :)))
Love,
Marguerite
Heartening, Kaaren and Richard.
Thank you.
Bruce
What gorgeous, stimulating images to wake up to this morning! Thank you for this experience. The spirit of all of these people touched me. Richard, how accurately sensitive you are with your machine. And the composition: poetic. But of course (wait, do I remember how to say it in French?)
Love to you both.
Beautiful people, extraordinary photos. Yet another of Richard's gifts. We all love postcards of the Eiffel Tower, but these capture our shared humanity. Thank you both for this!
You livened up my Sunday morning, Kaaren and Richard. ( Oh those "reticent" Parisian party goers!!) Thank you
for sharing your vision and astute observations.
love, Jane
I can't stop looking at these photos! I love the little girl with the backpack making a mask with her hands; the ringleader (so obviously a leader, even without his boys in that shot); and somehow, something about the man in the second photo -- can I borrow him as a writing prompt?
I love that you captured your reflection, too, Richard, when you captured the image of the three men returning to their site.
xoj
Marguerite:
I'm forever roaming around photographing people, doing what's known as "street photography" in the manner of Parisians who led the way, like Brassai, or Atget, or Cartier-Bresson. They made grab shots of moments in the life of a person or place, and people who were, in the main, unconscious of the camera.
But in this particular post, we wanted to feature JUST people who were completely conscious, and who asked, in some manner, the photographer to be their amanuensis, their artistic assistant. We loved all of these bold people.
Incidentally, you could NEVER keep a Metro face. You are so full of light your natural attitude is a smile.
Hugs,
Richard and Kaaren
Thank you, Bruce. Yes, our neighbors are full-hearted.
Hugs,
Richard and Kaaren
Cassandra, thank you.
There's a tough balance, since these aren't STAGED, but posed. I try to show the people as they presented themselves, and some kind of context, so you see them in situ, save, perhaps, for the youngest girl, whose face IS the shot.
I do crop so they occupy the frame with some sense of artistic composition. I'd like YOU, the viewer, to have a pleasant experience looking, too. There are schools in which cropping is a no-no (Cartier-Bresson never cropped), but I didn't go to that school.
Then there is each person's soul here, which is their business, and over which I have no say. I am grateful that each of them shared it with me.
And then there's the editorial partnership, where the words and the images mesh. We both are SO lucky that we keep challenging the other to better and better collaborations.
Many hugs,
--Richard and Kaaren
p.s.: YOUR face is due over here some year soon.
Thank you, Tara. This means a lot, coming from an expert writer/teacher, so gifted in showing our shared humanity. Congratulations on the new book!
Many hugs,
--Richard and Kaaren