Paris In Color
The photographs in my shop are a happy accident. In January 2009, I moved to Paris with my husband, and two young sons. Despite the damp cold and relentless gray, we enjoyed exploring our new neighborhood. One day, I noticed a few objects in a similar shade of red, and shot them. As I walked, I found other things I liked in that shade and photographed those as well. When I returned home and uploaded them to my blog, the response was, “more!”
I quickly became obsessed, and spent weeks singling out different shades. Searching for colors is a surprisingly democratic process, as it's just as likely to appear on something spectacular (Notre Dame) as it is on something pedestrian (a trash can). I didn’t question whether the object was famous, old, or important, I just shot it. The serendipitous nature of the process meant that I never had a plan, and that was part of the fun.
About a year later, I realized I was taking the kind of photos of Paris that as a raging Francophile I wanted to see, but could never find. There are plenty of photos of the Eiffel Tower and sunsets over the Seine, but when I wasn’t in Paris I wanted to BE in Paris--on the streets, sitting at a café, peering into a cheese shop, admiring the light on the cobblestones, noticing a charming sign for a €10 bouquet of tulips. I didn’t want the dressed up, tourist version of Paris, I wanted the Converse and t-shirt Paris. The Paris you see when you step out of the shadows of the monuments.
I’m consistently drawn to the way color contrasts Paris’ neutral facades, the way layers of paint erode into a form of abstract art, and to the details that are often overshadowed by the Eiffel Tower and other iconic landmarks. And that is what the Paris Color Project is about.
My book, “Paris in Color” by Chronicle Books released in April and is available on Amazon, in bookstores and boutique shops, including Anthropologie, Shakespeare & Company and the Musee d'Orsay.
My work has been featured by Martha Stewart, Real Simple, The New York Times, Design Sponge, Decor8, Apartment Therapy, Daily Candy, Lonny Magazine and HGTV.
I co-run Obvious State--a multi-disciplinary creative studio with my husband Evan. Visit http://obviousstate.com for more about our photos and projects.
I quickly became obsessed, and spent weeks singling out different shades. Searching for colors is a surprisingly democratic process, as it's just as likely to appear on something spectacular (Notre Dame) as it is on something pedestrian (a trash can). I didn’t question whether the object was famous, old, or important, I just shot it. The serendipitous nature of the process meant that I never had a plan, and that was part of the fun.
About a year later, I realized I was taking the kind of photos of Paris that as a raging Francophile I wanted to see, but could never find. There are plenty of photos of the Eiffel Tower and sunsets over the Seine, but when I wasn’t in Paris I wanted to BE in Paris--on the streets, sitting at a café, peering into a cheese shop, admiring the light on the cobblestones, noticing a charming sign for a €10 bouquet of tulips. I didn’t want the dressed up, tourist version of Paris, I wanted the Converse and t-shirt Paris. The Paris you see when you step out of the shadows of the monuments.
I’m consistently drawn to the way color contrasts Paris’ neutral facades, the way layers of paint erode into a form of abstract art, and to the details that are often overshadowed by the Eiffel Tower and other iconic landmarks. And that is what the Paris Color Project is about.
My book, “Paris in Color” by Chronicle Books released in April and is available on Amazon, in bookstores and boutique shops, including Anthropologie, Shakespeare & Company and the Musee d'Orsay.
My work has been featured by Martha Stewart, Real Simple, The New York Times, Design Sponge, Decor8, Apartment Therapy, Daily Candy, Lonny Magazine and HGTV.
I co-run Obvious State--a multi-disciplinary creative studio with my husband Evan. Visit http://obviousstate.com for more about our photos and projects.
