Imagine 2,068,000 Parisians crammed into 105 km (not including 11 km of bones that lie under Paris in the catacombs) with 500,000 or so dogs (4760 dogs per km). This means you have about a 1 in 4 chance that a Parisian you hear complaining about graffiti is a dog owner. And this dog owner will be ignorant of the fact that although 4,000,000F go annually to cleaning up graffiti, 34,000,000F are spent cleaning up the canine land mines laid all over town. 20 metric tons of dog truffles daily. Some of it is sucked up by those green vacuum cleaner-equipped motorcycles, some of it swept into gutters by the 12,000 branch brooms and 30,000 plastic branch brooms, and then washed out of sight, out of mind down many of Paris’ 18,000 sewer drains. Instead, wouldn’t it be interesting to each day pick out 20 different dog owners and leave a metric ton on each of their doorsteps. It would take 68 years to reward each dog owner- not a likely prospect.
James Salter Recalls Paris Memories
James Salter, one of the freshest voices in contemporary American fiction, was in Paris this month to renew a thirty-year relationship with the city. Although Salter never lived in Paris for any extended period, he continues to return – this time to retrieve and recall memories, images, voices, moments…
Pursuit of Bohemias Past
Okay, here’s the secret. Bohemia does exist. The flood of articles on that subject just won’t die. We won’t let them.
Paris and the Daguerrotype
It is January 7, 1839. A proud Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, one-time partner of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, discoverer of the earliest photographic process, is explaining his own image-making process, the daguerreotype, to the French Academy of Sciences. Continue reading “Paris and the Daguerrotype”
Paris Interview: William Klein
William Klein’s approach to photography challenges the way people see the world. His photos have been described as being a lyric combination of black humor, acerbic social observation and daring graphic invention.’
Parisian-American Culture Shock
The Delta widebody is making its final decent for LAX International Airport. The day is unseasonably clear we are told by the pilot, and down below the ninety-mile carpet of urban sprawl unrolls. It’s like a giant graveyard, each stone represented by a bright squarish dwelling. The Sierras make the wall to the north. Continue reading “Parisian-American Culture Shock”
Sandra Kwock-Silve discusses “Crossings”
Art, May 1989
While most of France is preparing for the big summer events that will fete the Bicentennial of the French Revolution, some 85 Hawaiians have traveled halfway around the world to celebrate the opening of Crossings France-Hawaii. Art works by 45 contemporary island artists are the focus of the Crossings ’89 exhibit that begins May 22nd at the Mona Bismarck Foundation. Continue reading “Sandra Kwock-Silve discusses “Crossings””
Interview: Collector Stephen White
Los Angeles gallery owner Steven White talks about his passion for discovering the undiscovered… May 1989. Steven White’s collection of photographs with images dating from the l840’s to the early 20th century recently opened at the Palais de Tokyo. What makes this show special is that it includes not only legendary photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston but also unknown gems that White has retrieved from history’s ‘lost and found’. In the following interview Steven White discusses his philosophy of collecting, the Tao, and what’s wrong with the contemporary photography scene. Continue reading “Interview: Collector Stephen White”
Paris… Ten Years After
Parisvoice celebrates ten years, Feburary 1989 The celebration of birthdays, anniversaries and other assorted red-letter dates is significant in that you are confronted directly with time, drawn against the silent but ever-present tow of complacency. Beyond the festivities lies always the existential questions.
Ralph Gibson Interview
Ralph Gibson is one of contemporary photography’s major heroes. His reputation, although falling short of rockstar status, comes as close to is as any photographer is likely to get. Gibson’s seductive visual metaphors have charmed photo-philes since the early seventies when he published his trilogy of books The Somnambulist, Déjà-vu and Days at Sea. He was in Paris recently for the opening of a show of his new work, “In Situ”, at the Agathe Gaillard Gallery and gave the following interview:
Yousuf Karsh’s Fifty Years of Photography
Interview with Yousuf Karsh, June 1988
Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh’s quest for the “perfect portrait” spans fifty years and illustrates the faces of the world’s most accomplished men and women. His detailed likenesses reveal what he calls the “inner power” of his subjects. “It is the mind and soul of the personality before my camera that interests me most”, says Karsh, “and the greater the mind and soul, the greater my interest”.The Centre National de la Photographie at the Palais de Tokyo is showing 150 of Karsh’s classic portraits this month. The show, organized by the International Center of Photography in New York, is a veritable visual Who’s Who. Karsh recently visited Paris to oversee the hanging of his show and gave the following interview.
Paris Voice: You once said that the perfect portrait has yet to be made. What did you mean?
Continue reading “Yousuf Karsh’s Fifty Years of Photography”