Scoot On By

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Scoot On By ~

Scoot On By, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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This isn't the first time I've seen a cute little pink kiddie scooter leaning up against some anonymous railing or grill with serious pretentions of grandeur. Look, it's even got its own complementary pastelly powdery purply lock and everything.

Personally, I can't quite envisage the appartment which couldn't accommodate this modest form of transport reasonably easily. Practically, I suppose it saves carting it up a few flights of stairs, but still. If this were mine, I couldn't imagine happily leaving my prized Hello Kitty scooter out in the elements just begging to be swiped, vandalised or simply peeed upon by any passing pooch.

It's not quite forlorn enough for me to wax lyrical about the stealing away of summer and the passing of childhood - after all, it's in pretty spiffing shape in its perfect pink and all, which makes its nonchalent abandonment all the more puzzling.

Perhaps I'm bad-minding Paris or this particular neighbourhood. Perhaps everyone leaves and always has left their violently tinted trikes, bikes and the likes out in all weathers since time immemorial. Perhaps it's a family tradition. Perhaps it's a test. Perhaps I was under intense video surveillance even as I contemplated this enigmatic item wondering whether to steal or pee all over it, just because no-one else seemed to have done so yet and it could only be a matter of time.

Maybe if I'd got any closer waves of stabbing stares and teddy bears would have hailed down on me until I desisted and retreated. As with many Paris mysteries, I guess I'll never know.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

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© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

The Long & The Dead

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ The Long & The Dead ~

The Long & The Dead, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Poor old Voltaire, I think it is, has become almost as long and forlorn as the incomprehensible structures which surround him.

Still, as much as anyone, he has the right to exercise his statuesque right to be commemorated where and how he wishes, which he has done here, apparently.

Again, I'm afraid, I'm rather more intrigued by those long square drainpipy things than by Voltaire himself in this case, but I have to admit the complement him marvellously, and checking Google images I'm once again struck by how many (i.e. all) of the images simply show the statue, middle of the frame, slap blame. How can people be so blind to the worth of surroundings which don't include flowers..?

The tones are wonderful too - it's almost a dichromatic or trichromatic image whilst being shot in full colour (and then messed around with a little, I guess).

Voltaire was more than prolific, and can only serve as an example to those of us who pretend to some sort of creativity, in whatever domain that may be. He spent time in the Bastille prison, in exile in the UK and in various places he'd rather not have been, thanks to his outspoken views, in particular on the right of free speech.

In the end I reckon we owe him more than a pale statue in some forgotten Parisian corner patch, but he's inspired me in his turn, which must count for something.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Putrid Paris Peeldown

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Putrid Paris Peeldown ~

Putrid Paris Peeldown, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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The Ville de Paris has a lot to answer for, even if I do claim that it set me free, or perhaps that it should be doing so.

I'm not quite sure what it is about this city. It could be the fact that it's big enough to be called a city, stuffed with incredible city stuff, and yet really is small enough to get to know after a few months or years in the way I wouldn't even want to with a place like London, although I may be prejudiced against the place I grew up near.

Paris has everything, from glamour to gloom, and I'd venture to say more than its fair share of both, which might seem surprising, especially for the latter but I'm convinced it is too so.

And yet it's relatively safe. OK, you hear about shootings, and there are definitely areas you shouldn't really be, especially half out of your head with a camera loosely held in your hand, but that may be true of most places.

But in general, if you're sensible, you can assume a day in Paris will be as relatively unremarkable as any day in Paris ever could be.

Which doesn't mean there's no edge; Paris has got a lot of edges to it, some blunt, some sharp, and from a photographer's point of view, which is supposed to be caputuring something of the soul of the city, this is not a bad thing. Of course, if you can inject a little of yourself into the shot, although preferrably not intravenously, so much the better as far as I'm concerned. And it ain't the tomato, whatever your pronunciation of it might be.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

LCD Woundsystem

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ LCD Woundsystem ~

LCD Woundsystem, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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And whilst we're on graffiti, here's a beauty, n'est-ce pas?! A splendid story-high 'LCD' in cool urban blue and black, the whole thing unfortunately marred by someone's lamentable attempt to picture a 'burban hothouse but they're planning on blotting the rest out next year, so I hear.

But seriously, you can almost imagine the couple looking down on this disrespectful shite and thinking, Aïee aïee aïeee..., if that's all they can manage... And the 'Testy Donk' don't make up for nuffink either.

Honestly, how moronic could you possibly be to cover such a great piece with such utter crap? Very moronic, is the only possible answer. How can they possibly think that their 'LCD' is an improvement over what was already there? No skill, no subtlety, no message, no brain. Which do you prefer? It's a no-brainer, obviously.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Critter Corner Conundrums

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Critter Corner Conundrums ~

Critter Corner Conundrums, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Here's another of them there Spacy Invadery types and I still can't be saying I like those little critters much. Take up far too much Parisian headroom with not too much to say for my liking.

Still, if you can't beat, fight or swat 'em, join 'em, as they say. So here's this one's fifteen seconds of fame on my blog anyway.

With a thousand of the things around the city they've had far more than 15 seconds of glory of course. This one's vaguely coherent, although the big question 'Why?' still raises its ugly head on a regular basis when I see these creations. Yes, I'll give the artist that: he created them and they are now a Paris if not world-wide phenomenon. As so many are now trying to emulate.

It's one of them there questions, isn't it; what constitutes art. Does this? Does anything? Does nothing (with an initial unartistic intent, that is)? Tomorrow I'll do drains and fag-ends, promise! And it'll be art coz I'll say it darn well them there is. Ephemeral, admittedly, but art none the less. So there.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Feats of Adaptation

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Feats of Adaptation ~

Feats of Adaptation, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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Not my feets, but if you looked to the left, ever so carefully, you'd see another couple of pairs of clawing paws, on an apple that was...

Well, no, not in this pic you wouldn't, but you would in another I took of this same platform track just a few seconds later.

A tiny bit of existence, a schnit of a thing, precisely the same colour as the dusty grey gravel he's rummaging amongst.

I did take a photo, and I did get him, but so good is his camouflage, and so tiny is he, it's really not worth publishing, so I'll try to get your imaginations to do the work.

Or not. About the size of a largish piece of gravel. Exactly the same colour as a chunk of aforementioned gravel. At the same height, lie and attitude as a morsel of godforsaken gravel. You can start to see why I'm offering you the above shot of Mickey rather than the, err, grey one. Personally, I prefer it.

And if you look even carefullier you can see the baby Jesus, I swear it, it's spooky... or is it Buddha..? Anyhow, it's uncanny how Paris platforms can talk to you after jussht a jar or two... eek!

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.

Tag Insanium

Paris iPhone Photo Chronicles ~ Tag Insanium ~

Tag Insanium, a photo by Paris Set Me Free on Flickr.

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The white van, the graffitied wall; this one weely has it all...

And it'll go down in my Crap Paris series a treat.

I'm sure a million psychological studies could be done on the guy who felt the desperate need to scrawl his moniker all over this boorish bulkhead, ad insanium, and they would be fascinating.

As it is, for us poor passers-by, we're left with the results of his handiwork, to wimper and wonder over. Well, under.

What does it mean? Is there a deeper significance? What the furck? Who knows? The contemplative older couple seem blissfully unaware of the dastardly-deed-doing, and probably so much the better. Classy antiques and crassy antics don't generally mix too well. They didn't stop to buy, by the by.

And why not...

J è  GRAB MY 20 AMAZING PARIS CURIOSITIES FREE NOW!  ç J

_________________________________________________________________________________
© 2012 Sab Will / Paris Set Me Free - Contact me directly for photo tours, interviews, exhibitions, etc.