“A Cathedral That Defined A City”: 20 Rare Photographs Of Notre Dame From The 19th Century
When the architects of Cathedral of Notre-Dame set to work some 850 years ago, their goals were nothing if not ambitious. The church’s sanctuary, they decreed, must be taller than any built before. The nave would rise 108 feet, and the two 223-feet-tall towers would cast a far-reaching shadow over the roofs of Paris. Continue reading »
This Artist Created An Incredible Optical Illusion At The Louvre Just So It Could Be Destroyed In A Few Days
Even if you have never been to Paris, you probably know that it’s a city rich in both culture and stunning architecture. There are so many things to see – from the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower to the busy narrow streets and beautiful open boulevards – all of this will make you feel like you’re a part of a romantic movie. And if you ever get to visit Paris, don’t forget to visit the Louvre – not only is it the largest art museum in the world, the building itself is a sight worth seeing as well. Continue reading »
“Les Amies de Place Blanche”: Captivating Portraits Of Paris Transsexuals In The 1950s
Originally published in 1983, Les Amies de Place Blanche (Ladies of the Place Blanche) focuses on the transsexual community living around the Place Blanche district of Paris in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The book established Christer Strömholm’s reputation as one of the leading photographers of the twentieth century. Continue reading »
A Look Back On the French Capital Nearly 100 Years Ago Through The Lens Of Photographer Jean Pierre Yves-Petit
Photographs of the City of Light taken by a master photographer in the early part of the twentieth century. The photographer Pierre Yves-Petit, who called himself “Yvon,” wandered the streets of Paris between the world wars looking for the moment when the shifting light and clouds would perfectly reveal the city’s ephemeral, iconic beauty. The dramatic images of the city and its people that he made during those years would become the most popular postcards in France. They can still be bought today on Parisian quais and are eagerly sought by collectors. Continue reading »
Stunning Black & White Pictures Of Yhe Louvre And Its Visitors From Between The 1960s And 1990s
Very patiently with a camera in his hand the Brazilian photographer Alecio de Andrade manages to capture incredible pictures of the visitors of the Louvre. He has been making these pictures for almost four decades.
What is the relation between these three scenes? All three of them are moments captured in the halls of the most famous museum in the world – the Louvre. Moments, which the photographer Alecio de Andrade has been patiently waiting for 39 whole years. Continue reading »
Paris’ Utopian Village Of Concrete Cabbage
This hypnotic, vegetable utopia might look like it rolled out of a Stanley Kubrick film set, but it was in fact the dream project of French architect Gérard Grandval. Continue reading »
“To See Paris And Die”: These Photos Compare Paris And Its Detailed Chinese Replica
With his project Paris Syndrome, the French photographer François Prost had fun comparing the city of Paris and its Chinese counterpart, located in the suburbs of Hanghzou. This amazing architectural project, a gigantic and detailed replica of Paris with its fake Eiffel Tower, its fake Haussmannian buildings and its fake French gardens, is a district of 31km² called Tianducheng, and built 10 years ago. Continue reading »
French Artists And Nike Have Redesigned The Paris Duperré Basketball Court
French design and photography agency Ill-Studio (previously featured) and fashion brand Pigalle have redesigned and repainted the Paris Duperré basketball court, with support from Nike. The court is squeezed between buildings in a Parisian suburb on Rue Duperré, and became internationally renowned in its previous guise, painted in graphical blocks of primary colours. Continue reading »
From Tokyo To Paris: 4 Continents, 4 Cities, 300 Objects
A city is made of many things.
When you dream of Paris you think croissants, good wine and the Moulin Rouge. When you fantasise Tokyo you visualise sushi, technology and paper lanterns. Photographic Poster Artist, Jordan Bolton based in Manchester, England, has done just that and designed for Expedia Canada, four unique posters depicting four iconic cities: San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Tokyo. Continue reading »
A Hidden Jungle Book Facade Of Paris
Messy Nessy
This pastel mosaic menagerie has just been hanging out on a backstreet in Paris’ 11th arrondissement, waiting for someone to notice… Continue reading »
Projection-Mapped PDA Puts Kissing Couples On Display In Paris
A lot of people get a little touchy about engaging in public displays of affection, but French visual artist Julien NONNON put the intimate interactions of Parisians on display for his projection-mapped project #le_baiser. Using proprietary technology that allows him to project on any facade that strikes his fancy, NONNON broadcast the embraces of couples on buildings throughout the city. Continue reading »
Straight From Paris, HoKiou’s Tiny Marvels Under Glass
Paris-based artist HoKiou handmakes a variety of whimsical jewelry, including beautiful terrarium-style rings. Continue reading »
15,000 Origami Birds Were Folded To Make This Large Mural In Paris
“Lunar Cycles” is a 49 foot (15m) high and 459 foot (140m) long mural covering the side of a building in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The installation is composed of both tangible origami birds, as well as painted ones to create depth and an element of permanence despite its temporary nature. Installed over 3 weeks, the first step was to paint the entire building black so that the colorful origami birds would really pop. Continue reading »
Forgotten Housing Estates In Paris Captured By Laurent Kronental
For the ongoing series ‘Souvenir d’un futur‘, French photographer Laurent Kronental documents life at the ‘Grands Ensembles’, the large housing projects in Paris, since four years. Built during the housing crisis between the 1950s and the 1980s, the decaying buildings are located in the city’s suburban area. Using an analog camera, Kronenthal captures melancholic images of the senior citizens as well as the concrete buildings Continue reading »
These Color Photos of Paris Were Shot 100 Years Ago
Back in 1909, a super-rich French banker named Albert Kahn decided to create a photographic record of the world using the new color photography process that had just appeared, the Autochrome Lumière. One of the cities they documented was Paris. Continue reading »
Street Artists Turn Boring Stairs In Paris Into Works Of Art
Artist duo Zag & Sia has created an awesome project that focuses on the idea of anamorphosis: the couple turns dull, grey stairs in the streets of Paris into works of art that aim to pass on the message of freedom of expression to their wide audience. We certainly expect to see more of them. Continue reading »
What a Dick: The Porniest Grave in Paris’s Père Lachaise Cemetery
The Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, some who simply walk the beautiful grounds indiscriminately, others on single-minded pilgrimages to visit the tombs of great historical figures like Maria Callas, Marcel Proust or… Jim Morrison. Continue reading »
A Basketball Court Was Styled as a Malevich Painting in Paris
Ill-Studio has collaborated with French fashion brand Pigalle to create a multicoloured basketball court between a row of buildings in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. They took inspiration from a 1930s artwork called Sportsmen by Russian artist Kasimir Malevich – a boldly coloured oil painting that depicts four figures stood side by side. Photos by Sebastien Michelini/Depositphotos. Continue reading »
Paris Picture Overlays
It is already one of the world’s most iconic cities, but this incredible collection shows how much Paris has changed over the course of the past century. The collection, by French photographer Julien Knez, shows Paris in the 1940s against a backdrop of how the same places look today. Knez says he put the striking collection together to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the city’s liberation from Nazi control in August 1944. Pictures featured include Place de la Bastille, which gained notoriety as a focal point of the French Revolution, as well as various streets in and around the French capital, including Rue de la Huchette and Place Saint-Michel. Pictures from 1944 show different places being guarded by Nazi soldiers and survivors of bomb attacks picking through rubble, a stark contrast to a scene of relative serenity in the modern day. Here: President De Gaulle on the Champ Elysees, with the Arc De Triomphe in the background. Continue reading »
Paris Mayor’s Race Offers Chance to Reimagine City
This computer image provided Monday March 17, 2014 by the Press Office of socialist candidate to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, shows a tunnel of abandoned railway from the 19th century, now ramshackle and overgrown, turned into a cinema. Hidalgo’s plan envisions not just a green space but in the tunnels, places for farming fish and mushrooms. (Photo by AP Photo/Anne Hidalgo’s Press Office) Continue reading »
1942 ‘Time Capsule’ Apartment Discovered in Paris
This real-estate story sounds almost like a fairy tale or the beginning of a big Hollywood production.
Back in 2010 a Parisian apartment on the Right Bank, near the Opéra Garnier, left unoccupied since 1942 was discovered. It was owned by Madame de Florian – a socialite and an actress – who fled to the South of France during the second world war, leaving everything behind. She never came back to Paris but kept on paying her rent until the day she died when she was 91. It’s only after she died that someone – a Commissaire Priseur – Auctioneer – re-enter her apartment for the first time in over 70 years. Continue reading »
Tyrannosaurus Rex is on Display in Paris
A giant chrome brushed aluminium skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus (T-Rex) dinosaur, made by French sculptor and painter Philippe Pasqua, stands at the pier of riverboat company Bateaux-Mouches on June 12, 2013 in Paris, with the Eiffel tower in the background. (Claire Lebertre/AFP Photo) Continue reading »
Cartier at the 26th Biennale des Antiquaires Paris 2012
Since 1964, Cartier has figured among the most prestigious exhibitors of this elite gathering and reaffirms its allegiance to the Biennale des Antiquaires with each edition.
A cultural event of international renown, this Parisian showcase of decorative arts from around the world unfurls splendidly over seventeen days under the dome of the Grand Palais.
With its 250 m2 stand – the largest of all exhibitors at the 2012 edition – Cartier unveils the full extent of its jewelled supremacy at the Biennale. Entrusted to the talent of French designer Tristan Auer, known for his refined approach and bespoke decorative work, this spectacular setting is a fitting reflection of the scope, creative power and legitimacy of the king of jewellers. This year, Cartier will present 148 pieces of high jewellery and 12 precious objects plus a selection of pieces from the Cartier Tradition collection.
Crafted in the great jewellery tradition of the Maison, each of these pieces required up to two years of work, calling on Cartier’s full range of expertise, including the artistic crafts of engraving and stone carving. Continue reading »
Eurostar ‘Paris – London’ Interior Design
Travelling from the capital of cool to the capital of fashion we think the Euro Star needs an urgent make over. This is what designer Christopher Jenner would do, creating a modern yet classic look. Continue reading »
Katy Perry for L’Officiel Paris, September 2012
Singer Katy Perry for L’Officiel Paris in photographs by Cuneyt Akerglou. Continue reading »
