Champ de Mars, Paris, France. 12:55pm local time. 28 April 2010
There’s no doubt; Paris is my favourite city. Why? Je ne sais pas, there’s just something about the place; the light, the wide open spaces, the boulevards, the river, the monuments, the cafés, the style, the history. Maybe it’s because, as a photography student all those years ago, I was inspired by the great French photojournalists of the mid-20th century; Cartier-Bresson, Lartigue, Doisneau, Brassaï. Whatever, it’s got under my skin, to the extent that rarely a year goes by without grabbing a few days there. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been now; maybe 20?
But that in itself raises a problem; coming up with new ways to photograph Paris just gets harder and harder. After so many…