Beer and a Room

I was in Paris years ago. Can’t remember why now, or with who, or what the actual point was. Some pale memory of walking around with a camera like everyone walks around with a camera there.

You don’t need another photo of the Eiffel Tower. The street vendors already own that moment. You’re not taking it from them. Everyone who ever went stands in the same place and shoots the same thing. The tower doesn’t get better for the attention.

Alex Brunet figured something different. He was photographing Kimbra, an American artist and photographer, and they didn’t bother with the famous stuff. Got some beer and locked themselves in a hotel room instead. Shot her raw—no concept, no location scouting, just actual work between two people who knew each other. The pictures you make because you want to see what comes out.

That’s what I want from Paris next time. Not the monument filling your viewfinder, but a real moment with a real person in an actual room. Good beer. A camera. The work feels bigger when the stakes are smaller.

I’m done photographing the Eiffel Tower.