Le Marais

Le Marais is a district of Paris which, were you to choose, could be a holiday destination in itself.  Although it seems to be seen more and more as simply the gay quarter that should tell the seasoned traveler something – gay districts usually take root in neighborhoods which are diverse, cultural and historic (and therefore interesting to the curious). Le Marais is all of those – and more.

So, take a tour through Le Marais on something typically French – a skateboard.  Seriously. Filmmaker Thomas Guerrin followed an (unnamed) boarder through the streets of Le Marais (using a glidecam + 5D III) capturing, in this unusual way, the architecture and feel of the place. He captures the people too – Le Marais has long been home to Jewish and Chinese communities and he captures these as well as other categories more typical of French life, such as the older lady with her host of pampered dogs!

It is difficult enough to capture the spirit of a place without being on a skateboard, but Guerrin  artfully captures the essence of Le Marais in all its variety. I have yet to see a better advert for my favourite Parisian district.

MTO – Street Art Labor Intensity

His mother calls him Mateo but most of the world knows the mysterious street artist whose extraordinary work you see here as MTO.   French born but Berlin based, MTO’s work is characterized by incredibly detailed renditions of über cool actors and musicians with a dash of red as his signature or around his work as a signifier of its boundaries (we are guessing to allow other artists to work around him).

Image Credit Flickr User Garrett Alfert

A visit to the Spanish city of Barcelona was the kick-start for MTO’s work on the streets.  There, the vibrancy of the city’s exterior culture inspired him to create. Yet his work, although labeled street art, goes way beyond graffiti.

The Coolest Doorway in Paris

It is something of a feat to be the coolest example of anything in Paris, which could certainly be a contender for the coolest city in the world regardless.  Yet the door which opens up to number 29 Avenue Rapp is, we believe, the coolest door in Paris. See if you agree.

The Eiffel Tower: Different Perspectives

It is one of the most well-known buildings in the world. It is, possibly for that reason, easy to take it for granted when seen from afar. After all, by 2010 over 250 million people had visited it. Yet up close it reveals another side to its character.  When seen from different perspectives, the Eiffel Tower regains the power to astonish.

Image Credit Flickr User David.NikonVsCanon

intemporalité

Intemporalité is an experimental film made from a large number of photographs (technically its a Hyperlapse and timelapse combined).  The architecture of Paris is deliberately distorted by Didier Viodé but it retains its timelessness and beauty yet you will never have seen the French capital quite like this.  As another way to discover this amazing city it is quite something (even though I challenge anyone to become jaded with the real thing!).

Take a Stroll in Paris with Two Top Ballet Dancers

…and when you do, it’s not quite like any usual promenade through the streets of the French capital.  San Francisco Ballet dancers Kimberly Braylock and Anthony Spaulding display a certain joie de vivre and are obviously very happy to be there in this short by Calvin Walker.  Parisians as usual refuse point blank to be nonplussed by anything but they do manage to attract the curiosity of a very excitable little dog if you watch carefully!

Victor Noir: Still Pleased to See You (Even in Death)

Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris contains the graves of many famous people, including Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. One person you may not have heard of, however, is Victor Noir. It is, in fact, his monument rather than his memory which draws people to his final resting place and for reasons you may not automatically associate with a cemetery.

Image Credit Flickr User MB Schlemmer

You may have already noticed that much of his face is the familiar grey-green of oxidized bronze you would expect from a monument dating from 1891 (Noir died in 1870). However, the lips and the nose are unaccountably shiny. Victor Noir’s mouth and nose are regularly caressed and kissed. Yet the host of women who descend upon his tombstone have more than Victor’s face in mind when they visit. Despite only the faintest trace of a smile across it, Victor Noir is, it seems, still very pleased to see you.

Paris Hyperlapse

The time-lapse is dead, long live the hyperlapse!  This is perhaps not a completely truthful statement but one which could be argued over a glass of wine or two.  And where better to do that than the city of lights, Paris?  This remarkable hyperlapse by Kirill Neiezhmakov shows the city in all its spectacle.

The video shows some of the best examples I have seen of the hyperlapse techniques which involves moving the camera while still shooting at a speed normally associated with time-lapse.  It’s a new(ish) technique and one that has been evolving at some speed recently - Neiezhmakov and his ilk are comfortably taking it to the next level with some huge, sweeping shots that make you wonder exactly how they were done.  They  certainly make me scratch my head.  Have a gawp and see if you can work it out yourself.

Paris Movement | Nº12417

Paris at dawn can be a place of serene beauty.  In fact it can make people break in to dance simply by being… Paris.  Or perhaps it’s a chicken and the egg thing.  Who can say but this video created by international creative firm Magna Carta and featuring Jojo Prida dancing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower is an exhilarating few minutes of awesome dance (made to look casual and easy) with some equally breath-taking camera angles.  What would Lautrec have made of this, I wonder!

Aimer: Paris, We Love You

Paris holds a special place in my heart – I’m sure the same can be said for millions of people the world over.  A group of animation students and alumni at the Savannah College of Art and Design wanted to say something simple but unambiguous after the events of the last few days. They came up with this – and it’s just lovely.

They also point out that this piece is not meant to exclude other nations that have been struck by terror; it is meant to serve as an inspiration for others to fight hatred through love and poetry. Well said.

Montmartre: The Quiet Hour

Montmarte is one of the busiest parts of Paris – you don’t really go there if you want to be on your own.  Or do you?  During the time just before and after dawn the place offers a certain tranquillity which belies the fact it is at the heart of one of the busiest, noisiest cities in the world.  Created by Emeric this is another side to Montmartre, one that you do not see unless you are willing to wake with the birds.

Petit Paris

Sean Collins lived in Paris as a young man and returned there last year to make this amazing tilt-shift video. With the help of his girlfriend he filmed this from the Eiffel Tower, Tour Montparnasse, Notre Dame and Arc De Triumph.

You can’t say that many women will help their man compose a love letter, even if it is to a city but the result here is a beautiful, elegiac paean to Paris. Collins heads Bodhi Films, (Sanskrit for enlightenment) a film production company dedicated to creating enlightening works of art through motion picture.

Together: A Story of Paris, Nazis, Jews and Muslims, based on True Events

When one considers what happened in Paris last week it is perhaps an opportune time to show this short film which is based on true events.  Together (Ensemble in French and directed by Mohamed Fekrane) is set in 1942 at the height of the Nazi occupation of France.

The round-ups of Jewish people has begun but one small child, Isaac, escapes them.  He seeks refuge in a place which, over sixty years later, might make one incredulous – the Paris Mosque.

There he comes under the protection of Si Kaddour Benghabrit, the Imam of the mosque, together with a number of other children.  Faced with a terrible predicament, the Imam and his community must choose between giving up the children to certain death or risking their own lives: the Nazis are hot on the trail of the missing children.

It has been estimated that Kaddour Benghabrit and his brethren saved between 600 and 1500 Jewish lives.  This, surely, and not the atrocities committed in Paris last week, shows the embodiment of Islam in its truest form.

Paris Unity Rally in Pictures: Millions Come Together in Solidarity

For a day, Paris became the capital of the world when 1.6 million People converged on the streets of the French capital.  Just a few days after the country suffered one its worst terrorist attacks the country responded with the biggest demonstration in its history, larger even than those which marked the Liberation of Paris in 1945. Across France up to four million people participated in events to demonstrate unity after the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a kosher supermarket which killed 17 people.

Image Antoine Walter

Image Yann Caradec

Here are a selection of pictures from the rally which show the staggering amount of people who wished to show to the world that they were still in harmony, that the ideals of liberté, égalité and fraternité are still very much intact.  More than 40 leaders from around the world also participated yet today was very much a day of the people, by the people and for the people. May their ideals persevere, flourish and grow stronger forevermore. As Je Suis Charlie still echoes through the streets of Paris and proliferates around the world, so it is hoped, will peace.

Meet The Loneliest Little Robot in the World

L3.0 is alone.  The streets of Paris have long since ceased resounding to the clamor of humanity and he is left to his own devices.  He spends his days writing notes on paper planes and jettisoning them over the city in the hopes that they will attract some company for him.  Yet one day something happens – he meets a living being and we finally learn the reason for Leo's solitude.  This animated short was created by a group of students at ISART Digital. 

If You Have Never Wanted to Visit Paris, You Will After Watching This

Paul Richardson recently spent three weeks in Paris, capturing it in all its quintessentially French gorgeousness and the result is this incredible time-lapse (with an amazing hyperlapse up to the Arc de Triumphe being my favorite part as I drove that road at about the same speed as a teenager).  While he was there, Paris experienced some massive storms, so if you like photography which captures lightning, you are going to love this.

Paris, Archi'llusion

Imagine Paris as a city where buildings can only be one or two storeys tall and you get the concept.

Claire&Max, the creators of this amazing video wanted to play with your perception of architecture by leveling Paris out and then rebuilding it in front of your eyes.  The result is a magnetic  experience- I couldn’t take my eyes off this.

Street Artist JR Plasters the Paris Panthéon with Portraits

The secular temple of The Pantheon in Paris is home to the remains of thousands of France’s famous sons and daughters including Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo, and Zola.  During the long overdue restoration of the vast shrine it was decided allow a contemporary project to take place in its environs to help mask some of the renovations. The ‘photograffeur’ and street artist JR collected thousands of portraits of everyday French people and has created one of the largest photographic collages the world has ever seen.

Image Credit Flickr User Yann Caradec

No Limit

I can virtually guarantee that you will watch this video to the end.

Videomaker Tomson has taken possibly the best break dancer in the world, Bboy Marco and created this amazing slow motion video of him in action in the middle of a Parisian shopping mall.

The music is Adagio for Tron by Daft Punk.  The combination of dance, visuals and music is just brilliant.

What makes me scratch my head is how blithely some of the shoppers in the video pass by without their eyes popping out of their heads.

Some people!

Fifty Pence

Darren is a young man with a history who finds himself in way over his head.  Enigmatically, we aren’t told anything about the lead up to the situation we discover here: Darren, a Londoner, is in a cheap Parisian hotel room with a girl who obviously doesn’t want to be there.

It’s Darren’s job, in fact, to take the girl – the packet – to the Mafioso. Painting a back-story (a hobby of mine), perhaps Darren is a gambler with heavy debts who can have them written off by doing a single job, escorting this mysterious girl to her fate.  Yet the more he is with her the more Darren’s natural integrity kicks in.

Fifty Pence is a short film written, directed and produced by Eric Kolelas.  He also plays the lead alongside Anoushka Ravanshad as the inscrutable Karina.  It’s an excellent performance from Kolelas: you can almost hear the cogs whirring inside Darren’s head as wonders how on earth he got himself in to this situation – and indeed how he is going to extricate himself from it.

Fifty Pence is a short film which trusts the audience to do some work rather than just sit back and take it all in.  We are permitted to write our own back-stories here – as well as, ultimately, to decide what happens to Darren and Karina next.