The French café: photography exhibition, Paris

A photography exhibition in Paris is a tribute to the women and men across France who keep cafés open ‘like a lighthouse in the night.’

Along the railings of the park next to the Town Hall of the 14th arrondissement in Paris is a photography exhibition paying tribute ‘to the happiness of Bistrots.’

The photographs represent the works of two different photographers and their studies of cafe bistros which French novelist Honore de Balzac (1799-1850) describes as 'parliaments of the people.'

The photographic exhibition, from 1 June to 27 August 2023, displays the photos of Pierre Josse and Pierrick Bourgault. From 2010 to the present day, cafés, from Loire to Le Mans and around the twenty suburbs of Paris, are shown in colour and in black and white.

Their photos highlight the social bond created around a bistrot, a coffee bar, representing the ‘art of living in France’s bistros and cafés as an intangible cultural heritage.’ It aims to safeguard this café culture as a culture of social sharing and exchange – a ‘precious human value’ in the society of life.

Pierre Josse describes himself as a professional hobo. He has been wandering the world for 40 years as editor-in-chief of Le Guide du Routard. He loves to socialize, communicate, read, dream, and, of course, taste the ‘strangest beverages on earth.’ He says he never fails to immortalize all of his favourite cafés in his photography.

Pierrick Bougault is an author and journalist in the fields of agriculture and anthropology. He loves listening, observing, describing, and taking pictures. He says his photography uses the ‘light of the place and the moment’ in order to reveal the universe of a person, a world in miniature.

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite I Rainy Day Healing I Martinasblogs I Publications I Facebook I Paris Website I Paris blogs I Animal Website I Flower Website I Global Gentlemanliness

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

Martina Nicolls is an Australian author and international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilisation, and foreign aid audits and evaluations.

Comments

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog