Wonderful Portraits of Teenage Sophie Marceau in Her Debut Films “La Boum” (1980) and “La Boum 2” (1982)
In La Boum (1980) and La Boum 2 (1982), Sophie Marceau starred as Vic Beretton, a teenager navigating first loves, friendships, and family challenges. Her natural performance made her an instant star, especially among European youth. Continue reading »
Impressive Posters Illustrated by Georges de Feure in the Late 19th Century
Georges de Feure (1868–1943) was a French artist known for his work in the Symbolist and Art Nouveau movements. Continue reading »
Captivating Vintage Photos of Pneumatic Tube Messaging Systems
Pneumatic tube systems, dating back to the late 18th century, were first implemented by the post office to connect buildings. Continue reading »
Impressive Vintage Posters Designed by Eric de Coulon
Born in Neuchâtel in 1888, Swiss artist Eric de Coulon, who studied architecture at ETH Zurich and later moved to Paris, is best remembered for inventing the “lettre sujet” technique, designing tourist posters in an elegant Art Deco style, and creating dynamic compositions for the Klausenrennen car races, before his death in 1956 at age 68. Continue reading »
Wild Animals On The Streets Of European Cities In Photo Collages By Česlovas Česnakevičius
Lithuanian artist Česlovas Česnakevičius (previously) enjoys creating photomontages depicting wild animals roaming the streets of European cities. Continue reading »
Daredevil Photographer Traveled Around The World To Take Pictures Of Beautiful Abandoned Places
Dimitri Bourriau, a Paris-based architectural photographer, presents a series of unique masterpieces that beckon us to explore the mysterious and suggestive ambiance of neglected sites. Continue reading »
Atmospheric Black and White Photographs of Paris by Night in the Early 1930s
In the early 1930s, Brassaï, the pseudonym for Gyula Halász, captured the essence of Paris at night through stunning black-and-white photographs, showcasing both its elegance and its underbelly. Continue reading »
Street Artists “Сorrected” the Labelling of Jewish Homes and Flats in Paris
Reuters/Lucien Libert
The symbols were stenciled in blue along the walls of multiple buildings in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, leaving prosecutors questioning whether they can determine the incidents are antisemitic. Continue reading »
Fabulous Photographs From the “Bubble” Series by Melvin Sokolsky in 1963
In 1963, New York City-based photographer and film director Melvin Sokolsky (1933–2022) produced the “Bubble” series of photographs depicting fashion models “floating” in giant clear plastic bubbles suspended in midair above the River Seine in Paris. Continue reading »
March 31, 1889: The Eiffel Tower Is Opened
The Eiffel Tower was built to be the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. Construction was started by Gustave Eiffel’s company in January 1887 and completed in March 1889. Continue reading »
A Collection of Incredible Rare Color Photographs of France in World War I
Serving in the French Army, photographer Fernand Cuville (1887–1927) continued the autochromists’ tradition of recording the world around them in great detail. These color photographs were taken by Cuville in 1917. His photos capture French soldiers in everyday situations, including cleaning their clothes and eating lunch. They also show war’s destruction in scenes of crumbling buildings and ruined landscapes. Continue reading »
Candid Photographs Captured Prostitution Scenes in Paris in 1966
Prostitution in Paris, both street prostitution and prostitution from dedicated facilities has a long history but also its own modernity in the French capital. Prostitutes are mostly women but also include transgender people and men. Continue reading »
Amazing Rare Photographs of the Montparnasse Train Wreck in 1895
Roger Viollet/Getty Images
This extraordinary accident occurred on October 22, 1895 at Montparnasse, then known as Gare de l’Ouest. The drive of the express train from Granville to Paris, hoping to make up time for its 131 passengers, increased the train’s speed and the air brake failed. Continue reading »
Paris in Vivid Color Images by Jules Gervais-Courtellemont, 1923
Paris as seen from the church of Saint Gervais.
Jules Gervais-Courtellemont/National Geographic Creative/Corbis
These colored photos by Jules Gervais-Courtellemont will take you back through time to see how Paris looked in 1923. The vivid images are produced using the autochrome technique in which the plates are covered in microscopic red, green and blue colored potato starch grains (about four million per square inch). Continue reading »
When Paris Was Protected with Sandbags and Masking Tape, 1914-1918
Arc de Triomphe.
Biblioteque Nationale de France
By the first week of September 1914, the Germans had come within thirty kilometers of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. The French and British armies were engaged in fierce fighting with the Germans in the First Battle of the Marne which repelled the Germans. Still, Parish remained uncomfortably close to the front lines for much of the Great War. Continue reading »
Artist Replaces Famous Parisian Monuments with Iconic Pop Culture Characters
French artist Benoit Lapray worked in collaboration with studio 95 Magenta and Emmanuelle Vonck Lugand to create this fantastic project that replaces famous Parisian monuments with iconic pop culture characters. Continue reading »
Fashion Designer Creates Paris Landmark and Skyscraper Puffer Jackets for Louis Vuitton
Fashion designer Virgil Abloh has made puffer jackets covered in Paris landmarks and well-known skyscrapers as part of the Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter menswear collection, which debuted in a Barcelona Pavilion-informed set. Continue reading »
Fabulous Cover Photos of La Vie Parisienne in 1927
La Vie Parisienne (the Parisian life) was a French weekly magazine founded in Paris in 1863 and was published without interruption until 1970. It was popular at the start of the 20th century. Continue reading »
The Spectacular World’s Fair Exposition Universelle in Rare Pictures, 1899
The Eiffel Tower viewed from the Champ du Mars.
AALTO University/Brown University Library Center
The 1889 World Fair in Paris was symbolically important, since the year 1889 marked the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, and the Fair was announced as a celebration of the event. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The most famous structure created for the Exposition, and still remaining, is the Eiffel Tower. Continue reading »
Amazing Black and White Photographs Capture Everyday Life in France During the Mid-20th Century
Photographer Janine Niepce (February 12, 1921 – August 5, 2007), one of the first photo-journalists in France, was a distant cousin of Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of photography. She photographed with great talent ordinary people going about their daily lives, much like humanist photographers Robert Doisneau and Willy Ronis. Influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson, who gave her very sound advice on photo-journalism, she joined the Rapho Agency in 1955. Continue reading »
McDonald’s Surprises Parisians By Launching These New Unique-Looking Street Ads
When you think food advertising can’t get any better than it is now, someone finds a way to one-up the competition. It does raise the question of whether there is a point in advertising a thing we can’t live without, but I digress.
McDonald’s has come out with an advert—a street billboard—in the streets of Paris that has been drawing people’s attention lately with its unconventional public ad design. Continue reading »
Eugene Atget – The Photographer Who Walked Fin de Siècle Paris
Eugene Atget (1857-1927) wandered the streets of Paris dressed in a large black cloak and floppy hat, his camera slung on its tripod over his shoulder. He drifted until something triggered a response which he stopped to photograph. Continue reading »
The Extending Mini-Skirts In Paris In The Mid-1960s
Paris Match
The miniskirt was introduced in 1965 at the fashion show of French designer André Courreges. He felt that the design of women’s clothes was not keeping up with the modern trends of the 1950s and 1960s and wanted to introduce a look that was modern, streamlined, and easy. His miniskirts were A-line skirts, narrow at the waist and wider at the hem, that ended four inches above the knee. Continue reading »
“75 Parisiennes”: French Photographer Spends 6 Years Capturing Women In Paris
Mélanie, métro Anvers
This book in which a selection of 75 photographs are presented, is the outcome of six years of work by the portraitist Baudouin on the women of Paris. The photographs are a tribute to these Parisiennes, whose diversity and complexity have caused rivers of ink to flow. Continue reading »
Rebuilding Notre Dame In Photographs
Stephane de Sakutin/AP
Three months after a fire ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a rare glimpse inside the burned masterpiece on Wednesday revealed it to be eerily empty and with rubble still littering the nave. Continue reading »
