Paris Mon Amour

Superb text and iconic pictures of a magnificent city. A great book to own !

I'm surprised someone hasn't reviewed this book yet. It's quite a treasure. Some months ago, during an excursion to the Met in NYC, I was feeling a little homesick for Paris, so my eye was immediately drawn to this book. I'm really quite glad that I found it, for it's easily one of my favorite photography books. It actually reads like a book of essays, but in a photographical format. There is an introduction at the front (in French, English, and German) giving a brief background in the history of French photography, but one can easily enjoy the book without bothering with this intro. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, from mid-19th century Parisian alleyways to the joy on people's faces during the city's liberation in 1944. First things first: the book is slightly taller than most books, so it may be a little tricky to store on a shelf. I made do, particularly since I use those metal cube shelves you get from Target, which are substantially taller than typical bookshelves. All of the photographs are in black and white, which forms some really nice contrasts and creates an overall sense of timelessness. We're dealing, after all, with Paris from the advent of photography to recent fashion (I believe the latest picture in the book is from the 1980s). As stated earlier in this review, things like the Liberation are covered, as well as lots of other historical events (the Occupation, the student riots of the 1960s, ect). But these great moments in history are the anomalies. For the most part, the book chooses to focus on everyday events in Parisian life, past and present, like little children skipping rope in the 1920s, or well-to-do ladies watching a horse race at the turn of the last century, or two college students trading a kiss in a bistro in the 1970s. It's the little touches like this that really bring the city to life. Coming from someone who has lived in Paris twice and considers it another home, this is a very nice compliment, and I think it would make a particularly nice addition to one's coffee table. I only wish it were a little bigger, but it's already over 200 pages, so I guess I'm just trying to prolong a good thing.