Going beyond Paris

24 Jul

As many of you know, I spent the first half of 2023 in Europe on an exchange programme through my university. I was based in Paris, but I spent a lot of time travelling to different parts of Europe (check out my blog posts from Madeira and then my Spain & Portugal if you haven’t already). While not all my travels throughout Europe were for photography (I went to visit friends, watch sports and sometimes just see new places as a tourist), I think that a lot of my time and travel in France had photography in mind. I was very conscious about wanting to explore beyond Paris, and to really get a feel of the country that was hosting me for half a year. Moreover, as I’ve said so in the past, I really enjoy my time out in nature, and so I didn’t just want to visit the major cities - in fact, you’ll notice that I didn’t end up going to most of the other major French cities like Lyon, Nice or Marseilles. Instead, I think I managed to get quite a nice range of experiences - from the coast up into the mountains, from rural farms to sprawling urban centres. Of course I’d never claim to have seen or experienced even a fraction of what France has to offer, but I’m glad that at least my experiences go beyond the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées.

To close off this chapter of my life, I want to share the photos and stories from my six month stint. It’s hard to sum up 6 months of experiences and stories into one coherent blog post, but I shall give it a shot. Fair warning, this is going to be a very long post, so hope you’re comfortable.

Paris

Despite all the hype about Paris as this incredibly beautiful city rife with street photography opportunities, I found that it was also where I felt least inspired to go out to shoot. Maybe it was the constant fear that taking out my camera would lead to it getting stolen (just about everyone I spoke to prior to leaving for France warned me that I would be pickpocketed or mugged at some point). Maybe it was the fact that I lived quite far out from the “attractive” parts of Paris, and so every trip into town was a conscious and deliberate effort. Or honestly more likely I was just caught up with the other aspects of life. I think in the same way that people struggle to photograph their home cities, Paris (or at least my small studio) really felt like home, and so I did find it hard to find that drive to shoot.

Despite visiting most of the main attractions, I only ended up shooting twice in Paris - once from Montparnasse Tower (it’s not cheap, but I think it is probably the best viewpoint of Paris), and once at Hotel De Ville. While it is a shame that I spent six months in Paris and only got a small handful of photos, Paris was the one place in France that I am sure I will be back in at some point in the future, and so I really didn’t feel the pressure to shoot and produce a portfolio of images from. Perhaps when I am next back, and able to look at the city through the eyes of a tourist rather than someone living there and going about with daily life, I’ll find some more drive to shoot this incredibly photogenic city.

I think this was one of the first frames I got from on top of Montparnasse Tower, and it was by far my favourite shot from the day. When I got up to the rooftop, there were storm clouds rapidly rolling in, and there was just this one break in the clouds, leading to a narrow sliver of light. It was moving across the city very quickly, and I only had a couple of seconds before Sacré Coeur and the rest of Montmartre were in shadow again. Not even five minutes later, it started pouring. Most of the rest of the day was really flat and foggy (not the good kind), and made for very difficult shooting conditions.

I’ll be the first to admit this is not close to the best Eiffel Tower shot out there. As cliché and over-photographed as it is, it would have been nice to have a solid Eiffel Tower shot in my portfolio. But hey, at least it means there is something else to work on when I am next back, right?

I actually kind of like this shot of Eglise Saint-Sulpice, and the contrast between the orange lights and the adjacent buildings in shadow. It looks like some heavily split-toned image, but this really was what the colours looked like SOOC. If I were to go back to Montparnasse Tower, this would be a composition that I would try to focus on.

To be honest, I only ended up shooting at Hotel De Ville because I was waiting for my classmates for a school project. While there is always a lot going on in this square, I was very quickly attracted to this man making bubbles. I ended up spending nearly an hour working the scene (which shows you how late my classmates were). Out of hundreds of frames, I think this was the strongest - it’s not TOO cluttered, and there is a dynamic visual relationship between the man and the boy. This was my first street photography session in a long time, and it probably sparked that interest for the rest of the trip.

24-25 March: Mont Saint-Michel

Beyond all the normal comments I normally make about the conditions, I think this experience reminded me that unless you are extremely lucky, the best photographs of any of these attractions are always by local photographers who can come regularly. These places have a few, very famous compositions, and beyond that it is the conditions which determine how good a photo is. Therefore, especially somewhere with as volatile weather conditions as Normandy, being able to come day after day, year after year really will allow you to get the best shots.

I went with some friends to Mont Saint-Michel (MSM) as part of a Normandy roadtrip, where I also visited Bayeux and the WWII beaches. As I was trying to location scout and find the best shooting spots on Instagram, I’ll admit that I built up a pretty unrealistic expectation about how my photos were going to turn out. There was this one particular spot with a dry meandering riverbed acting as a near perfect leading line that I was pretty desperate to find. So after exploring the Cathedral (frankly, the inside of MSM is nothing special), I walked several kilometres into this open grass field, looking for that riverbed. It had rained all morning, and so the field was waterlogged and the conditions weren’t great, but I thought I’d try to scout out my shooting spot for the next morning. Unfortunately, around 30 minutes into my search, it started raining. So there I was, in this completely exposed grass field in sub 10ºC weather (it was Mid-March in wild Normandy), drenched from head to toe, carrying several thousand dollars’ worth of equipment, and at least 2km away from my friends, the car or the hotel. There have been very few times in my life where I wished I was not shooting, but not going to lie this was one of them. I was miserable. Being drenched already, it made no difference whether I walked or ran back, so I ended up slowly trudging my way back to find my friends. I think by the time I found them my fingers were starting to turn blue. That evening I was in desperate need for a warm meal, and so very gladly gave up any ideas of heading back into the cold.

I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed the next morning, and was very kindly dropped off close-by to MSM by my friend Daniel. Some part of me held onto this idea that because of how much I “suffered” the day before, that the universe was going to reward my efforts with some stunning sunrise. It did not happen. While at the very least I was not wet, I don’t think a single warm tone appeared in the sky at any point. Still, with fairly interesting clouds, I managed to get one shot of MSM that I thought was alright. It’s definitely no award winner, but considering circumstances I am happy with what I got.

21-23 April: étretat

I think this shot is a very accurate reflection of how I felt at the time. Nothing crazy, nothing overly dramatic, no crazy colours. Just a nice long exposure with an early sunset over a beach in a quaint French town. Amongst every photo I’ve ever taken, I think this may well most accurately represent how I was feeling.

My trip to Étretat was a birthday treat for myself - apparently I thought I needed a retreat from life as an exchange student in Paris. My primary objective for this trip was to just slow down and relax - the photography was secondary. If I got a shot then great, but I didn’t want to force myself to wake up earlier or stay out later than I wanted to. Instead, I found myself exploring this charming little town for two days, walking along the beautiful white cliffs and the pebble beaches, and just taking it all in. I had just started Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and so I ended up spending many hours sitting on top of the cliff (in a safe space, don’t worry everyone) reading. I can say that was one of my favourite moments in my entire time in Europe.

While I was there, I was trying to figure out why this place was such a favourite amongst painters (Both Manet and Monet spent a fair amount of time here), but not a location shot by many landscape photographers - I think on both days, I had the only tripod on the beach. I don’t have a great answer, but I think Étretat is just one of those “hard to photograph” places, where it’s difficult to convey the scale of just how tall the cliffs are, and that other visual art forms may do justice to this place better. I felt a certain emotional calmness while I was there, and this became the driving force behind the shot I ended up with. It felt pretty cool to think that I was trying to create art from the same cliffs and the same beach as many legendary artists before me, and I’ll never know for sure, but perhaps they were feeling the same way I did when they were also inspired to create.

As we arrived to the main colosseum in Arles, I notice that people were starting to stream out. I figure the girl was a performer from a show in there, and that she was leaving with her partner. I saw that streak of light on the ground, and went on absolute burst mode trying to capture the perfect moment.

30 April-5 May: Provence

Before my two week street photography challenge in Spain & Portugal, I had a little warm up in Provence in the South of France. I was travelling with my mum, so this trip was a little different to most of my solo travel before. We ended up hitting like 3-4 small towns/villages a day all throughout the Provence region, and while I couldn’t tell you the names of most of the villages we visited, I will say that nearly every place we went to had a completely different vibe, much to my surprise. Each place had something unique about it, and I was pretty impressed by the character and charm of most places. It was only when we visited the major city of Aix-en-Provence and I started seeing all the usual international shops that I started to feel bored. As far as a holiday goes, my time in Provence was great, with a lot of delicious food and a comfortable apartment to base ourselves from.

I cover my thoughts on street photography in quite a lot of depth in my Spain & Portugal blog, and so I don’t have a lot to say which isn’t going to repeat myself. What I will say is that it really took me a couple of days to find my feet again with street photography, but that this trip whet my appetite for this type of more “run-and-gun shooting”, and it made me a lot more excited for Iberia than I otherwise would have been.

Gordes: One of the more iconic towns and photo locations in Provence, I managed to convince my mum to sit and wait for sunset to get this shot. I’m lucky that this viewpoint was right next to the road, which made it really easy to get to. I really like the beautiful but muted sunset, and the slide reddish brown of the buildings really stood out as the sun set. Definitely one of my stronger images from my time in France.

I really wish this man stood a couple of inches forward, which would mean that the streak of light across his body would be going across his face. Then again, I do like how it illuminates his moustache but otherwise keeps him in shadow. Maybe it adds to the intrigue of the shot.

Ah yes, the classic “man walks down the alley” shot that every street photography is almost compelled to take at some point or another. Over the years, I probably have dozens, if not hundreds of these. I think what makes this one work for me is the nice colour contrast between the oranges and yellows of the buildings and the man’s jacket, as well as the blues in the sky and in the shadows.

10 May: Lille

I was originally supposed to go to Lille in mid-March with a friend of mine, but that was unfortunately called off due to train strikes. Instead, I had a couple of free days between Provence and Spain, and so I decided to visit Lille as a day trip. Or at least that was the aim (but more on that later). As the train pulled into Lille, it started to drizzle. What a surprise. I thought I was going to need to end up hiding in some cafe somewhere, but it never went beyond a light drizzle. This made for near perfect street opportunities, with the reflections on the floor creating more intrigue within the frames. I spent most of the day just wondering around, forcing myself to work on my mental limitations by making myself point my camera at anything and everything. Lille is a lovely city, but it really is quite small, and so within a couple hours I think I saw most of what there is to see in Lille. In the end, I produced this trio of images, which I think encapsulate the vibe of the city and of the day pretty well.

I was supposed to get onto a 8.30pm or so train, and so by 7.45pm or so I was standing outside Lille Flanders Station, the station I arrived at. At 8.20pm, I walk into the station, looking for my train, but I could not find the sign. After asking around a fair amount, someone was finally able to tell me that there was a second (and very small) train station 20 minutes away, and that my train was departing from there. Despite my best efforts sprinting across town, I missed the train, which turned out to be the last train of the day back to Paris. I ended up staying in a youth hostel for a night, getting onto a morning train back to Paris. But that’s how I ended up staying an extra night in Lille.

30 May-2 June: Bourre

If I were to tell you that I visited one place in France twice, you’d be forgiven for thinking it wasn’t some “random” French village two and a half hours out from Paris. But that’s exactly the truth. Both in Mid-March and in late May/early June, I went to visit my family friend Pierre in Bourre, a tiny village near to Tours. On my first visit, I ended up dividing my time between visiting nearby towns in the Loire Valley (did you know that Da Vinci died in a town in France?), and spending time with Pierre’s flock of sheep. While there wasn’t all that much to do, living a couple of days rurally was a great change of pace, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. One thing which was very apparent to me was the importance of wine to the area, and that many people were involved with winemaking. A few days after getting back to Paris, I asked Pierre if he knew any winemakers who would be willing to be photographed, and sure enough he introduced me to this couple Axel and Marine. I always intended to come back, but with all my other trips lined up, I had no idea when I’d be able to squeeze time in to come back to Bourre. Fortunately I was able to find three days, and I ended up spending a lovely morning with Axel and Marine documenting their lives as artisanal winemakers.

I don’t want to share too much at this stage, but below are a couple of photos which act as a preview to the much larger body of work I produced for this lovely couple. I will link to the project (and update the blog) as soon as it is ready.

3-8 June: Chamonix

When planning one final trip before returning back to Asia, there were quite a few places I wanted to see. The Dolomites, Ireland, Slovenia and Scotland were just some of the places I looked into. I asked myself '“what am I not going to be able to get while I’m back in Singapore?” and three words came to mind: cold, hiking and peace. From there, Chamonix came to mind. Not only did Chamonix fulfil those three main criteria, it also had a lot of other points going for it - it was in France, it was offseason so it was going to be (relatively) quiet, and I didn’t need to rent a car to get around. I ended up having staying at this lovely hostel, and there were plenty of food options, albeit not cheap (both the pros and cons of being in a famous ski town). As far as a holiday goes, it was shaping up to be a fantastic trip. Photography-wise, I set myself a couple of limitations to challenge my creativity - one was that I could only use my telephoto lens (and a teleconverter) throughout the whole trip, and two that I had to shoot in black and white. Even the pano below, although I ended up choosing to go with the colour version, was initially visualised and shot in black and white.

Adjacent to Mont Blanc itself, Aiguille Du Midi stands at nearly 4,000m tall, dominating the Chamonix valley. Very conveniently, there is a cable car which takes one all the way up, and so one morning I found myself riding up to the top of the mountain. My goodness was the view incredible. Standing above the clouds, I wondered whether this is what heaven looked like. I had a near 360º view of the surrounding mountains, and it was one of those places where I could blindfold myself and produce a half decent shot. At that point I was glad that I had my telephoto lens on me, allowing me to pick out small pockets of interest. I was looking for ways to show off the scale of the mountains, and just how small and insignificant us humans are in such incredible landscapes. I’d have spent all day up there, but unfortunately I started feeling altitude sickness, and I had a headache despite sitting in the mountain cafe trying to calm down. Eventually I admitted defeat and headed back down to the midpoint of the mountain, and once I was feeling better hiked down the rest of the way.

One thing I was really glad about was the fact that even on the valley floor there were still potential shots, especially since I had my telephoto lens. Yes it sounds lazy, but by this point I had spent nearly a month on the road, and the fatigue was really setting in. After the first few days of fairly intense hiking, I felt my body really needed a rest. On my last day, instead of trying to push myself for one last hike, I ended up spending half a day white water rafting, which was really fun and a nice change of pace. As I was walking back, I noticed from literally right outside my hostel that the cable car station partially in the mist, with the late afternoon sun glistening on the white snow. I bolted to grab my camera and started firing away. Everything was lining up perfectly. The clouds were fast moving, constantly changing how the light fell upon the mountain, revealing and hiding the station up top. In that moment, I really felt like I had caught a break, and that six months of rain and poor conditions and bad weather was being made up for. If this was going to be my last shoot in Europe, I felt like I was going out with a bang. In the aftermath, I texted some friends and literally said “omg this may be the best photo I’ve ever taken”. While I don’t know if that’s true, I think it’s definitely up there.

I can’t believe this photo wasn’t on my original editing shortlist, and I only discovered it during a second run through. I think I didn’t notice the people walking during the first cut, which I think really makes the shot.

This is that photo I mentioned above. It was one of the last shots I took on my last day in Chamonix, on one of my last days in France. I still cannot believe this was taken right outside my hostel - really raises question about whether it was worth it to wake up so early and hike so far (jk).

This pano is 15,000 pixels on the long edge, and it represents just a small fraction of a much larger pano that I took. I ended up spending a long time trying to find compositions within the initial giant frame, and this was what I came up with. I think the paragliders in the bottom right really add to the frame, providing that sense of scale.

Conclusion:

As much as I like to focus on photography and trying to get the best photos while I’m travelling, my time in France has made me really appreciate the stories, adventures and mishaps that travel uniquely brings. As I think I may have said in a previous blogpost, travel and photography to me are heavily intertwined, and my love for one is strengthened by my love for the other. A lot of the fun of shooting while travelling are the stories and memories which accompany them - would you read an article with just lines and lines about the technical decisions I made for each shot? I suspect most people wouldn’t. It is the experiences we gain and the stories we tell which make travel so unique and special.

My time in France was thus a really important period of my life for many reasons, both personally and photographically. It opened my eyes to a new and very different philosophy and approach to life which goes against many of the “values” I grew up with in Asian society. I’m not about to completely reject my upbringing, but there are certain things about the French & European approach to life which are worth considering. Meanwhile, living alone meant that I could only rely on myself, but it also meant that I had the space and independence to grow, make mistakes and to reflect on life. (It also meant I could cook everyday, which was really fun). Photographically, once I got over that hump I was suffering through in the first couple of months, the exposure to such a wide array of different shooting experiences really forced me to grow and develop as a photographer. While I’m glad that my portfolio is full of photos from Europe, perhaps more importantly it gave me greater clarity on what photography means to me, and why I continue to bother to wake up at ungodly hours.

A word for my Fujifilm X-T3. On the way back from Europe, I bought myself a new camera, and so my time in Europe was a last hurrah for my beloved camera. It still is a great camera, even though by now it’s getting pretty long in the tooth, and there are issues that were getting too much to handle (ahem battery life ahem). Perhaps most importantly though, it was the camera which made me truly fall in love with photography. The X-T3 was the first camera I bought for myself, and I’m pretty sure like 90% of my portfolio would have been shot on it. When I first bought into the Fuji ecosystem, I initially did question whether I had made the right choice, but nearly five years and close to 100,000 shots later, I could not be happier with my decision. People can talk about the best camera/tool all they want, but ultimately the only question is whether it is the right camera for you. This was why my next camera could only ever be the X-T5, the latest generation in the same line of cameras. It is a technical upgrade in nearly every regard, but very importantly it keeps the soul and essence of my X-T3. So thank you to my X-T3 for all the memories, and I look forward to all the travel and crazy adventures in the future with my new X-T5.

As for my photography more broadly, what’s next? Honestly I have no idea. I’m coming into my final year of university, and so “reality” is starting to kick in a bit. With the prospect of a new school year, a dissertation and the quest for employment all on the horizon, I don’t exactly know what is going to happen in the next year or two. I know I won’t have as much time as before to shoot, so I do need to think about how to continue engaging with photography going forward. The long-awaited hawker project is still a work in progress, but there have been developments, and I hope to be done by the end of 2023. Beyond that, I honestly have no idea what the future may hold, what projects I may want to embark on, or where else photography will take me.

Luke Seow