Robertson - Paris in love : 65 artists illustrate the secret sidekicks of history

DEDICATION To anyone who has fallen in love with a place Copyright 2014 Nichole Robertson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. ISBN 978-1-4521-3318-8 (HC)
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Little by little, those tiny details add up to something more, something difficult to define, something all-consuming. You go from curiosity to fondness to infatuation and then it hits you: Youre in love. My first book, Paris in Color, documents my own process of falling in love with Paris. Over several years, I recorded the details I loved and that defined the city for me. I used color as a means of filtering out distractions and evoking distinct moods. When Paris wore yellow, she cheered me up.

The verdant greens of the trees along the promenades calmed me down. Black evoked a sense of mystery, sophistication, and secrecy. On the days I hadnt decided what Id photograph, Id leave it up to chance. After a few minutes, a certain color would grab my attention. It always surprised me that this color, which moments before had gone unnoticed, was suddenly everywhere. And there was one color that had a unique way of dominating, of always grabbing my eye: Red.

Rich, sanguine red. Red demands your attention. Red draws you in. Whether its a towering metro sign, a bold door, or a tiny tangle of flowers in a window box that lures you from the end of a long street, when Paris wears red, she seduces. I wondered if Pariss come-hither reds could tell a visual story of falling in love with the city. I wanted to capture the natural rhythm of red as I walked Pariss streets from morning to night.

I submitted to the color, and let it guide me from arrondissement to arrondissement. From worn facades to mopeds, wine glasses to caf signs, each detail drew me a little closer. When night fell, the mood changed, and my attention shifted to red light, often intimate, always inviting. What strikes me most as I reflect on the project is that the collection is greater than the sum of its parts. Like words in a sentence, no individual photo stands on its own. They work together as a love story of sorts, and although some subjects may feel more obvious than othersa graffiti heart, a bouquet of flowersthey are no more or less important than the objects beside themcane chairs and stop lights.

In fact, it was often the unexpected I liked the most. But isnt that just like lovediscovery and surprise? The photos in this book are arranged to mimic that slow walk from morning to night. The city is dressed up in her most lustrous reds like a new dress for a first date. What happens next is between you and Paris.