many photographs and a few words, as I wander - commissions accepted / prints for sale / all texts and photos copyrighted Christophe Chevaugeon unless otherwise stated
I lived on either side of the Porte St-Denis for many years and always loved the way it loomed as you made your way down the Rue du Faubourg St-Denis. You can either look at these quickly or roam more carefully to pick out details and people going about their business. A part of me feels home and at ease there. The final one was captured digitally in August 2009. As for the first set on film, my guess is late 80s ?
Although taken 30 years ago, I remember these boys well, even their names. Bien que prise il y a 30 ans, je me souviens bien de ces garçons, même de leurs noms.
From a 35 mm negative. Place de la Bastille or the Bastoche as we call it in slang.
Taken on a cold winter morning. It’s an image that I prefer to sanitised postcardy views, it says Paris to me.
La Porte St-Denis, Paris on hot August day, digital capture. La Porte St-Denis, par une chaude journée d’août,numérique.
It seems a long time ago since I took these pictures, and it was ! At least one was taken in the mid 1990s and the others in the early 2000s. All were captured on film . I scanned them a few months ago from the original 35 mm negatives .For as long as I remember, every summer this funfair sets up on the edge of the Jardins des Tuileries, across the Rue de Rivoli: I have fond memories of the place and love that time of the year :Paris, in August is particularly quiet and yet fun.
I’ve been working on a book project to present my favourites personal photographs of Paris:these will definitively be there.
Read les Misérables or Quatre-Vingt-Treize ( Ninety-Three ) :his last novel .
A few months ago I started an ambitious project to put the photos of Paris that matter to me the most in to book form. I’ve almost finished phase one of the work:selecting and editing the photos, many of which where captured on film.
Phase two, the layout, is seriously underway. My options were either to place the photos in more or less chronological order or to link them somehow: I quickly opted for the link them somehow. Furthermore Bruno Chalifour, photographer and critique prompted me to think in terms of series as opposed to stand alone approach.
It’s been a fascintating journey that has revealed to me how much, and sometimes, how little, I ‘ve changed my approach to organising the elements of a photograph leaving aside all considerations of content, lighting and rendition of the black and white.
“La Piscine rue David d’Anger”s is one of my favourite personal photographs. Everything comes together: subject, key elements, light and tonal range. “Près de la Gare du Nord ” I only edited recently (it’s been sitting in my archives for years). It works for me too. Because my archives are not organised , I don’t have a clear idea of how far apart in time they were taken( I suspect not very far ) but no matter how different they are in terms of content, it struck me that they are linked and need to be on opposing pages: of course they share obvious features but most importantly in my view they work in similar ways to create a feeling of space and of time captured.
Black and white street photography by Christophe Chevaugeon taken at the Piscine rud David d’Angers in Paris probably around the mid 90s
Black and white street photography by Christophe chevaugeon taken Près de la Gare du Nord in Paris probably around the mid 90s too
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci ( Haven’t quite finished editing this one )
See Place de la Nation 1 for explanation and take time to look at all these beautiful faces. Thank you. Merci
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