Another Paris photograph? Guess so. This one was done in the early Eighties around the time I made Metro, Paris. I’m pretty sure I made it using a Leica rangefinder, but to be honest I can’t remember which model it was. If I had to take a guess, probably an M4-2. Cash was still tight then and it was cheaper than an M2, M3, M4 or M4P. Most Leica people are pretty particular about their precious cameras and the M4-2 is not seen in the same league as the “classic” M2, M3 or M4, but it was and still is a great user camera!
I always took my camera with me on all the many trips I made to Paris for my government work, and always made sure I found some time to stroll around that incredible city. Even if time was short there was just so much to see that I would be hard pressed not to find something to photograph! Skipping the taxis and metros when traveling in any great city is always a good idea. Not only to do get to make photographs, but all that walking allows you to eat very well and burn off the calories. This is particularly important when visiting Paris!
Anyway, I was walking around as usual. Not sure where I was going and on my way to getting lost when suddenly I noticed a man sitting on the steps in front of a large old wooden doorway across the street. I have always been a sucker for doorways and have had a lifelong project capturing them, but it has been rare that I included anyone in those pictures. I quickly decided this could be something special so I immediately ran over before the gent might decide to get up and leave. One problem … as I got over there people just seemed to show up out of nowhere … damn tourists and some Parisians were getting in my picture!
There wasn’t anything I could do, shooing them away wouldn’t help … they were tourists and Parisians! And they were stopping to look at my picture! I waited around for a while, but things weren’t getting any better. Now I was starting to worry that I might get skunked if didn’t do something fast! Adding to my anxiety was the fact that it wasn’t just anyone sitting in a doorway, but someone that clearly been around the block and looked very interesting. Maybe he had been a prizefighter at one point in his life because the contour of his nose seemed to go in several directions. But there was more! I also noticed that on the stone wall that made up part of the doorway next to where he was sitting were some very interesting graffiti drawings, including a crucifixion scene.
I had to get this picture and soon … crowd be damned! I wasn’t going to be defeated so I struggled to get as close as I could to capture the scene with my 50mm lens. I maneuvered the best I could, lined things up, focused and tripped the shutter. I knew there were going to be people in the way, but it was the hand I was dealt, and so I hoped for the best.
Back at home looking at the proof sheet of pictures I had made, the scene of the man in the doorway stood out. Still only some serious cropping would save the day. Of course in today’s digital world Photoshop would have solved the problem in a jiffy, but for me it is what it is and I am still very happy with my image. Sometimes, all you can do is make the picture and hope for the best as I did. Sometimes it pays off!
Stay well,
Michael