“Paris: The Camera’s Kiss” is a collection of beautiful photos by journalist Jeremy Ferguson taken on his many leisurely visits to the French capital. It is my great pleasure to introduce it to you on this blog!
Paris: The Camera’s Kiss!
One of my faithful readers, Jeremy Ferguson contacted me a little while back about a Paris eBook he was going to publish.
>> Download your FREE Copy of Paris: The Camera’s Kiss
I was impressed by the quality of his photos. Having taken thousands of photos across the whole of Paris, there was something in Jeremy’s work that caught my attention. It wasn’t the monuments nor the sightseeings. It was the faces of people that makes his photo collection one of a kind.
As each face is unique, the pictures look like time-frozen snapshots… it almost feels like we have the power to pause the notion of time for a moment.
It is this one look, that one glance or that one demeanour that make Jeremy’s photos feel so alive.
His book, PARIS: THE CAMERA’S KISS is a loving portrait of the City of Light based on a dozen leisurely visits and a pictorial span encompassing a vast territory:
- the panoply of Parisian rooftops in late afternoon sunshine,
- the Seine and its bridges,
- the Louvre by day and night,
- the gastronomic allure of Rue Montorgueil,
- the elegance of Place des Vosges,
- Père Lachaise cemetery,
- Parisian graffiti,
- the Musée d’Orsay,
- the Rodin Museum,
- the Catacombs,
- lovers caught candidly,
- and dozens of portraits of Parisians savouring their daily lives.
Paris: The Camera’s Kiss is available free of charge here.
An Interview with Jeremy!
To get to know the author a bit more, I’ve asked Jeremy to answer a few questions about France…
Q1 – What does France mean to you? What inspires you the most about France?
What inspires me about France: Well, what doesn’t?
The spellbinding if often painful history.
The fascinations of Paris that render it the most compelling city in the world.
The unspoiled beauty of the French countryside and for a photographer, a play of light completely unique (and I’ve taken my camera to more than 100 countries).
The wonderful food from farmers and producers who place flavour high among their priorities.
And certainly not last, the welcome and the kindnesses we’ve experienced from the French people over many visits.
Q2 – What’s your favourite part of travelling to France? And your least favourite?
A difficult question: Our most beloved places are Paris and in the south, the Dordogne, Provence, Languedoc. I suppose our least favourite has been the Loire because we found little to it but extravagant palaces and mansions.
Q3 – Do you have a dream project that you’d like to create one day?
Dream project: I have two photographic books on Paris and the south. Those are my dream projects. But a third might conjure up new experiences. Paris is never “done.”
Q4 – If you were to go to France right now, where would you like to visit?
Returning to France, more of Paris, more of the south. The well is bottomless.
Q5 – What advice would you give first-time visitors to France?
I would advise newcomers to travel with open minds and open hearts, spend vast amounts of time in street markets, walk everywhere, discover foie gras, learn to interpret France through the camera lens and get to know the French, who treat outsiders so warmly and generously. And oh yes, fall in love if they can.
The reason behind ‘Paris: The Camera’s Kiss’
As Jeremy explains: “I had seen Paris first, for a few exhausting days in 1968, when my first wife and I were returning from Spain, where we’d had a baby. But we HAD to see Paris.”
As a travel journalist and photographer, he’d travelled to many corners of France – Normandy, Brittany, Alsace, the Côte d’Azur, Champagne—but Paris was just a stopover. Jeremy added:
“It wasn’t until 1994 when I was named Journalist of the Year from the French Tourist Office in Canada, that I really got to know Paris. (This was the only time the award had been given). The prize included first-class seats with Air France, a journey from Paris to Monaco and most significantly, an apartment in Paris on the Rue Berri for a week. It was Christmas, the lights glowed and the street markets were exhilarating. My wife and I fell in love with the city. We spent two more Christmases in Paris and then many more stays in autumn. Our love for the city grew and deepened. Paris has become part of us. We hope to return next fall or over Christmas, depending on the COVID situation.”
Here are more photos taken from the book to give you more insights!
What do people say about it?
Great work Jeremy. I love the street scenes with the graffiti and people. I think the diversity in those scenes captures the Paris of today which is of interest to me and perhaps others. I think I saw you and Carol in one of the street scenes.
Alan Kohut, Curator, New Photographers Gallery
Absolutely marvellous! It is one of your best my dear.
We both love it and actually, I got misty-eyed looking at your beautiful images. You captured the essence of the Paris we love so much – it’s difficult to pick any favourite photos but your people images are quite magical. I love the flaneur on the Seine riverbank, the woman smoking her cigarette at the door of the wine shop, the people munching their baguettes, the cafe and market crowd scenes etc.
The book evoked an almost visceral longing to get back.
Priscille Leblanc, ex-vice president, Air Canada
One can never have too much of Paris. Don’t know if anyone famous uttered those words but I just did. If I can’t visit this voluptuous cornucopia of life as it should be lived, then let me at least worship it through the artistry of your photographs, this city that inflamed my teenaged senses some 60 years ago and has never dimmed in all my visits since.
You get to the core of this beloved city, the beating heart behind all the history, the glory, the people, the famous and infamous. The colour, the light. La tendresse for all her people, whoever they are, wherever they come from, you have captured them all. Your photos highlight how Paris has never succumbed to the “build ‘em high and ugly” thinking of other cities, choosing instead to maintain the lower profiles and classic architecture.
Why do people just look different in Paris? Why are the markets so glorious. Questions I hope to answer for myself on yet another visit as soon as we are able. Your book is calling to me, a siren call to return. Thank you, Cher Jeremy.
Pam Jackson, Retired Public Relations consultant
Get Paris: The Camera’s Kiss now!
Paris: The Camera’s Kiss is currently available free of charge here.
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For more information, please contact Jeremy Ferguson: jeremy.ferguson @ shaw.ca
