Postcards from Paris - A Preview

"If I was from Paris, I would say:

Oooh la la la la la la la!"

- Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

"Paris embodies so many contradictions. She is small, yet very large. Simple, but in an oh so complicated way. Innocently young, yet erotically mature. Pristine, with a gritty underbelly. Highbrow, yet revels in the lowbrow. Instead of denying these intense contradictions Parisians, indeed the city Herself, embraces them and invites the world to freely partake, and delight in the experience - and we do.

Because Paris is so many things, to so many different kinds of people, it is impossible to neatly place all that She is into a box (of any size). But one thing I think we can all agree on is that one of the ways Paris speaks to us best is through images - snapshots of the contradictions, breadth, depth, beauty, and...joy that is Paris. Thus in this series of articles, I offer to you my Postcards from Paris."

- Temple Tsenes-Hills

That's the opening salvo in my pitch to the wonderful Mimi Bleu, proprietress and editor - of the fantabulous Paris-centric blog Bonjour Romance and the equally fantabulous Paris-inspired  Belle Inspiration Magazine.

Fountain at the Place de la Concorde

Although I've only been seriously photographing Paris for 3 years, I've literally taken thousands of photos - it's Paris, how could I not? Moreover, I find that one photograph can inhabit several categories of organization: a place, a season, a time of day, a moment, and/or a feeling from all of the above. That a myriad memories and emotions inhabit each photograph. And relating the categories, memories, and emotions of one photograph could fill the chapter of a book - really.

Arc du Triomphe - Champs Ellyses,

while riding in a topless jalopy!

The title was actually Mimi's idea. We were sitting in L'Auberge Bressane brainstorming on how to most effectively use some of my Paris photos. But, as I was working on the latest volume of my personal collection of Paris photo albums, I realized that I arrange and affix my photos, on the album-page like, little postcards: I put the place and date and a short descriptive sentence. I leave the photograph to speak for itself...like a postcard. That's when I had an Oprah AhhHa! moment.

My glorious three running through the streets of Paris ;-)

What about: a series of articles, built around only a handful of photographs of Paris, that surround a certain theme (a theme that will become apparent when all of the assembled photographs are considered as a group). No more than three sentences below the photograph, or no words at all - let the photo speak to the individual reader. I guess I should call it a Mimi AhhHa! moment ;-)

So I created a draft of the first installment of Postcards from Paris and sent it to Mimi - because the obvious home for Postcards... is Belle Inspiration Magazine, of course! Thankfully, Mimi said yes! And Postcards from Paris' first installment will be published in the next edition of Belle Inspiration Magazine (I'll let you know when it drops).

A simple lunch - Place de Furstemburg

I also think that Postcards from Paris should have a place here. So I'll post them, 2-4 weeks after they appear in Belle Inspiration Magazine. If you see a photograph that particularly speaks to you, please share. You know that I love to hear from you.

Vivre! Rire! Aimer!

Temple