Alastair Arthur - Photographers Guide to Paris, The: Capturing Beautiful Images of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and Beyond

Tip

This book includes links to Google Maps, so you can click through to see the location online. This is especially handy if youre reading on a smartphone or tablet while traveling.

If photography is drawing with light, then what better place in which to practice the art than in the City of Light. Its not a big city if you consider the main area to be within the Boulevard Priphrique (ring road), although the total metropolitan area is one of the largest in Europe. And, of course, Paris is full of stunning architecture, art, and people.

Fujifilm X-E1, 55mm, ISO 400, 1/680s, f/14

Paris is a beautiful city, and its not just the monuments and museums. Its the iron railings. The ornate doors. Its the parks and the shops and the lights. The bridges and the buildings. Its also, very often, the people. Beauty and elegance are respected, upheld, sought after, and cherished. Its one of the global centersif not the global centerfor fashion and art.

Paris is also rich in tradition. Its an old city, dating back more than 2000 years. Notre Dame, for example, celebrated its 850th anniversary in 2013. Youll find an abundance of patisseries, cafes and markets, featuring fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, cheeses, and wines. Its not cheap, and its not the cleanest city on the planet, but it is rich and vibrant and beautiful. And Paris has so many stories to tell. Thats where you and your camera come in.

Typically, Paris has mild winters and warm summers like most of Western Europe. Summer temperatures usually vary between 1525C (5977F). They can reach 30C (86F) but rarely go much higher.

Rain is common throughout the year, but snow is rare. If youre fortunate and it does snow while youre here, make the most of it quickly because it will tend to be light and melt within a few days.

The Metro and RER networks are a quick and easy solution. A pack of ten tickets, available from the machines and ticket counters at all stations, should last for a few days. I recommend walking as much a possible, though. The main sights are not that far apart, and youre always likely to stumble across more images that youll want to capture on the way.

If you have a smartphone or tablet, its worth downloading a map of central Paris from Google Maps. Storing the map offline means you dont have to rely on mobile reception or resort to data roaming. To download, first search for Paris and zoom so that the area you want to download is displayed onscreen. Then type OK maps into the search bar to start the download. If you get stuck, you can also find maps at the entrance to most Metro stations.

As a photographer in Paris, you are following in many great and accomplished footsteps. To name a few:

Eugne Atget (18571927). Atget pioneered documentary photography. His aim was to capture scenes of Paris before they changed under modernization, whether as commissioned works or as his own projects. His work was largely unrecognized during his lifetime.

Man Ray (18901976). Born in America, Ray spent most of his career in Paris. He considered himself primarily a painter, but he was best known for his avant-garde fashion and portrait photography.

Brassa (18991984). Hungarian by birth, Brassas fame came through his photography of Paris, including the upper classes and his artist friends such as Dal and Picasso.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (19082004). Generally considered to be the pioneer of photojournalism, his Decisive Moment photography and its implications have inspired generations of photographers.

Robert Doisneau (19121994). Another pioneer of photojournalism, Doisneau is famous for his 1950 photograph Le baiser de lhtel de ville (The Kiss by the Town Hall).

Willy Ronis (19102009).