This guy looks like he's wondering just just where is the sun (or The Moon for that matter, which seems to have gone on strike this week along with the rest of the country.
The stylistic sundial, here on rue Saint Jacques, just next to where Michael runs his famous 'Teatime = 'Talktime' on a Saturday afternoon, is also looking a bit pale, even after last week's glorious weather.
But this isn't a weather forecast, and all i could ever hope to do is report the present (which is one of the reasons i don't call myself 'Spiritual Sab' and live in a painted caravan on the boulevard de Ménilmontant asking people to give me money if i tell them what they want to hear..), so I'll stick to that if it's ok with you.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Monday 30 August 2010
Waiting For The 1 In 5
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Waiting For The 1 In 5 ~
|
The basta.. i mean the poor overworked, underpaid dears of the SNCF etc. are on strike again today.
Well, it's understandable. In a desperate attempt to stop the country from going completely bankrupt HNG (His Nicolas' Government) are trying to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 so that there are still some of this ageing population around to pay for all the other retirees' golden years.
Trouble is, the train workers only have to work up till 50 or 55, depending on how dangerous their job is. Those who choke on the toxic fumes, year in, year out, as they stoke the coal-burning furnaces of the TGV and the Paris metro obviously deserve some compensation, after all.
Not to mention the intrinsic danger to the index fingers of all those courageous drivers as they push the 'go' and 'stop' buttons, day after day, in their cramped little cabins...
And then there are the passengers. The 'customers'. The 'clients', as they would like us to see ourselves. We're looking forward to a real fun day today, as we try to squeeze into the '1 train in 5' which they claim will be running on some lines. Shame I'm claustrophobic...
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Sunday 29 August 2010
Holey Stone, Factman!
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Holey Stone, Factman! ~
|
There aren't many more intriguing structures in Paris than the 'mire du sud' here in beautiful Parc Montsouris.
With its mysterious hollow circle at the top and the enigmatic removal of the name following the inscription 'in the reign of..' (not who you might think) this lump of stone has puzzled more than one.
The 'reign' was in fact that of Napoleon, who wasn't always the 'parfum du jour', and the hole was to help Observers from the Paris Observatory to, well, Observe Things.
What a lovely, important job that must have been; would have suited me down to a tittle.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Saturday 28 August 2010
Paris and i ~ 'Lust In Pieces'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Lust In Pieces ~
|
"Souviens-toi que le Temps est un joueur avide
Qui gagne sans tricher, à tout coup! c'est la loi.
Le jour décroît; la nuit augmente; Souviens-toi!
Le gouffre a toujours soif; la clepsydre se vide."
(Remember, Time is a greedy player
Who wins without cheating, every round! It's the law.
The daylight wanes; the night deepens; remember!
The abyss thirsts always; the water-clock runs low.)
The decorations and hand-written notes on Baudelaire's grave bear witness to the esteem in which he is held, even today.
An innocent white flower seems to sprout provocatively from a beer bottle's evil orifice and the scrawled inscription exhorts he whose poems were banned for licentiousness and obscenity to rise again.
Extract from L'Horloge by Charles Baudelaire, 1821-1867, L.I.P. (Lust In Pieces)...
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Friday 27 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Dead or Alive'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Dead Or Alive ~
|
The Paris railway stations are probably the best example of where the different realities of the city come closest - uncomfortably close for some.
Those very same places which are nothing more than places to pass through for most are virtually home to others, providing them with a measure of warmth, shelter, and some sense of being part of society.
What you can't see I'm this picture is the invisible social protection barrier around this guy, which extends out from him in all direction for about two metres.
Just watch people going past him for a few minutes and you'll see how effective it is. Much as the baguette munching, commuting crowd would love to stop and chat with him, they're unable to make it past his defences. They even have to swerve away from him sometimes to avoid bumping into it. Impressive.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Thursday 26 August 2010
Paris and ~ 'Best Little Whorehouse In Paris'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Best Little Whorehouse In Paris ~
|
'What the... where does he find the bizarre headings to all his posts?' you might be asking yourself. But in this case it couldn't be closer to the truth!
This odd little place, sandwiched between two 'proper' Parisian buildings, was indeed a brothel, servicing local businessmen, lawyers and of course members of the clergy from the nearby Saint Eustache church, which had been purposely built just across the street so they wouldn't have too far to go between christenings.
Going even further than some 'maisons closes' (closed houses) of the time, which signalled their presence by a larger than usual street number plaque, 36 rue Saint-Sulpice glories in some cheerfully colourful ceramics to attract attention. Charming.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Back To The Daily Grind'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Back To The Daily Grind ~
|
Everything stops in summer here in Paris. Well, almost everything.
Bakers are closed when you need some bread; trains run on Sunday service all week (but you can get a seat in the morning); on-going administrative procedures can be forgotten about for weeks; and of course all the free newspapers that litter the stations are conspicuous by their absence.
Well now they're back with a vengeance. I can put down my boring little books about the mysteries of the city and start my day instead with events in the Elysée and murders in the Camargue.
The French call this period 'la rentrée' (the return) and generally wish each other a good one. So 'bonne rentrée', wherever you are!
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Get Over It'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Get Over It ~
|
Some tombs are stranger than others...
There are those where weeping head-holding women lament the loss of the beloved.
And there are others where the attitude seems rather darker: 'Food for worms, laddie, food for worms...'
This striking railing in the Montparnasse cemetery is unequivocal: 'They're dead. You will be too soon. Get over it.' would appear to be the message here.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Monday 23 August 2010
Violence and Horor
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Violence and Horor ~
|
Hey, hold on there! Just when we all thought that love was the answer, along come the poster-pastin' killjoys to remind us that horor (sic) and violence generally prevails...
Whether it's intended as some sort of humorous irony or whoever plastered the hateful over the happy really adheres to the doctrine of danger, it keeps the streets alive and kicking.
Personally, I prefer the former philosophy - go for it, Einstein - but action necessarily causes (necessary) reaction and that isn't going to change any time soon. That was mine!
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Sunday 22 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Filling In Time'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Filling In Time ~
|
Not the first view you might expect to see from your average dentist's waiting room, but this shot was taken whilst waiting for a check up round the corner from metro station.
OK, i admit that i had to swivel a little and cheat just a bit to get both structures into the same shot, but that's all part of the fun.
Can anyone name both of these fang-like structures, by the way? And no, they're not Dracula's gnashers.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Saturday 21 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Publicity Pigshit'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Publicity Pigshit ~
|
Ads are one of the richest sources of ironic incongruity available to street photographers.
Take this shot of lush verdant pastures just bursting with wholesome goodness (and troughs full of pigshit i suppose, but they don't show that).
 |
| NEW! - Download this cute little printable PDF |
'Pour vous, on s'engage !' (roughly, 'For you, we're making the effort') says the slogan. Well yes, so you should be, if you want to sell more of your little packaged ham actors.
And i bet that not one of the omega-3 bloated porkies which end up on our plates have ever seen anything remotely resembling the idealised clipart image shown on the billboard.
Probably something like the tower blocks of the 13th arrondissement, behind, would be more familiar to the poor beasts whose only reason for existing was to be sliced up and stuck in some garish plastic packaging for our greater gustatory delight. The swine...
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Friday 20 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Just Hanging Out'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Just Hanging Out ~
|
One of the main cultural centres of the city, the Pompidou Centre, or 'Beaubourg', if you want to sound a bit less touristy, stands out, let's face it, like a spare pri.., err, like a sore thumb.
But like it or loathe it, with its innards on the outside for all to see, it's become part of the Parisian landscape, and attracts a colourful crowd who sit around eating sandwiches, watching the street performers or just, well, hanging out i guess.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Thursday 19 August 2010
Paris and I ~ 'Young, Loved & Beautiful'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Young, Loved & Beautiful ~
|
Probably the most incongruous and perhaps the most poignantly celebratory of all Parisian graves must be this giant mosaic cat hiding amongst the sombre grey tombstones in the Montparnasse Cemetary.
Labelled simply 'Ricardo', it's by sculptor Niki de Saint-Phalle for her assistant and collaborator, and is accompanied by a little plaque which says 'Pour notre grand ami mort trop tôt, jeune, aimé et beau' (For our great friend [who] died too soon; young, beloved and beautiful'.
Seeing such a moving and unconventional monument triggered two thoughts in my head. The first was 'Isn't Paris great that you can find something so amazing in such an unexpected place?'
And the second was 'Maybe i should get started on my own monument [something to do with squares or cubes, no doubt] before it's too late'.
Walks around graveyards tend to get you thinking in strange ways, don't you find?
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Paris and I - 'End of the Line'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ End of the Line ~
|
Une fin bien triste (a pretty sad ending) is the expression which comes to mind as i contemplate the rusting remains of the once perky Petite Ceinture, the little line which used to encircle the capital.
The obsolete railway bridge which accompanies the Pont National across the Seine is hanging on by the splinters of its sleepers but the whole line is being nibbled away, little by little, and it won't be long before the whole thing is just another légende urbaine of Paris.
So next time you pass under a dark iron structure with no obvious purpose, or look over a wall and suddenly find yourself looking into a deep cutting towards the edges of the city, spare a thought for the little trains that used to chug along them, and our predecessors who sat aboard them.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Paris and I - 'Dreams Of Yesteryear'
iPhone Photo Chronicles
~ Dreams Of Yesteryear ~
|
Hey, it just goes to show that cheesy pictures of Paris don't change much over the years, don't you think?
i was browsing through a box of vintage postcards in the marvellous Passage des Panoramas last weekend and came across this grimy gem!
It's difficult to tell, but it's probably from the 50s or 60s and the photographer's even got his name on the front, suggesting it may have been self-published.
Ah, it makes you yearn for the days when Notre Dame was a little parochial church with flowers growing around the front steps just like any other, doesn't it?
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Monday 16 August 2010
Beware The Bogglies
Paris iPhone Chronicles
~ Beware The Bogglies ~
|
Spotted last week in a quiet little Parisian square, full of children and unsuspecting sunbathers, the sinister Bogglies are back!
With their piercing blue boggle eyes and scary ability to just melt into and out of the grass, these giant haystacks have been causing hairy havock and frightening innocent city strollers throughout the year.
Square du Temple in the third arrondissement seems to be their current abode, but who knows where they'll surge up next?
So watch out next time you're walking across that perfectly manicured French lawn marked 'Pelouse Interdite'. You might just find yourself on your back ten feet in the air with a Boggly up your backside...
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Sunday 15 August 2010
The Happiest Place On Earth
Once upon a time garlic-chewing Frenchmen in blue and white sweaters rode bicycles through the 'rues' with onions around their necks whistling La Marseillaise whilst avoiding gritty black and white humanist street photographer's...
Those happy days are gone now, of course, so forget baguettes and berets - get a dose of true contemporary French culture on any RER train ride today!
Here's Mickey - or is it Minnie - in yer face (twice) on my RER B ride home yesterday.
Nice to see we're keeping up with modern trends and are not quite yet just the 'living museum' we were in danger of becoming a few years ago.
Thank you Disney, and of course thank you Mickey (or is it Minnie) too for making our tired old capital 'The Happiest Place On Earth' once again.
The End.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Saturday 14 August 2010
Breezing By The Bus Boys
A mighty strange sighting next to the Montparnasse Cemetary last week: the 'Busabri' is here!
The Busawot? The Busabri, 'abri' signifying a place of shelter, and 'bus' signifying, well, bus, etymologically speaking.
It's a new project from 'Les Enfants du Canal' and aims to provide a place of rest and advice for the many homeless people of Paris, the famous SDFs, from 10 till 6. Strict office hours then, and not open for business at other times, such as the night.
An extremely worthy initiative, although my cynical realist's soul does make me wonder just how welcome the guy whose personal aroma almost closed down the Montparnasse FNAC yesterday would be made to feel, and this despite the 'attractive turquoise green cushions and orange curtains' chosen to assuage the chance itinerant interior decorator's soul..?
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Friday 13 August 2010
Sun and Games
Hey, what the..? Well, doesn't one amuse oneself in front of the Paris Town Hall these days?!
It's all part of good old Paris Plage, of course, where we Parisians (genuine + adopted) try to convince ourselves that we're not actually toiling away in a tourist-infested sweat bowl but actually on some southern sun-kissed beach...
It doesn't quite work, but at least they made the effort. And it's still Paris, which is what counts in the end.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Thursday 12 August 2010
Nipples? Who Needs 'Em?
Cody: Hey, check out that fit dude, Brett!
Brett: Are you serious, Cody? His waist's twice the size of his chest and he's got man boobs!
Cody: You're just jealous coz you haven't even got nipples, and besides, Brett, physical appearance isn't everything. Although his funky pink T-shirt does go rather nicely with my window frame...
Brett: Hey, no need to get personal! And anyway, Cody, for someone who doesn't worry about looks you're certainly not shy about waving your assets around in the front window for all to see!
Cody: Whatever it takes, Bretty-Boy, whatever it takes...
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
Wednesday 11 August 2010
Whatever That Is
It looks much more ethereal and dream-like here than in reality, i'm afraid.
But then again, this image only existed inside my head to start off with, so i guess it has the right to not quite accurately reflect real life.
Whatever that is.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Be Seeing You
i'm back, i'm back - ya know it; ya know it..!
Yep, that's right, after a painful couple of weeks away from the city
of light i be back ta bring ya loads more fun and freaky fotos from
you-know-where.
Prepare for a whole pile of pithy pictorialism comin' right your way,
and feel free to send it right back at me if you've got some comments
to make.
Be reading you.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)
Yep, that's right, after a painful couple of weeks away from the city
of light i be back ta bring ya loads more fun and freaky fotos from
you-know-where.
Prepare for a whole pile of pithy pictorialism comin' right your way,
and feel free to send it right back at me if you've got some comments
to make.
Be reading you.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I'
photo blog)
Monday 9 August 2010
Colour Me Paris
Paris Plage, or 'Paris Beach' happens every year now, and seems to have become pretty much a permanent fixture. Not only that, but it's spread to lots of other non-beach bestowed cities around Europe, and for all i know, the world.
Do I like it? Dunno really, but having written that i realise that the answer is Yes! of course. Because it's yet another wild photo opportunity to capture all sorts of interesting images of people and posters doing interactive things - a city chronicler's nirvana.
(A Paris iPhone street photograph by Sab Will for the 'Paris and I' photo blog)
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