Being a photographer in the Paris area

Sometimes it’s trying to live here, as the Paris region is so busy.  I live in a nice suburb, west of Paris. I chose this area first of all because I wanted a house, and secondly because of its proximity by motorway to Paris and to La Défense, where my full time job is based. I know it’s quite a dream place for a photographer. We’ll come to that later. Being west of Paris, it’s easy to get to to Normandy and see the ocean, and even do some surfing.

When we look at it that way, it seems idyllic for a photographer to be here. Indeed, if you are a passionate street photographer, come on !!! You can go to Paris, spend time in Montmartre and capture typical French moments. You love architecture photography? You can take pictures of the fabulous Paris La Défense business district. You want to see the ocean, visit little villages loaded with historic moments or follow in the footsteps of  famous historic people (Claude Monet, Van Gogh, Emile Zola, …)? Your days will be spent getting out and enjoying photography.

Well that’s far from reality… unfortunately.

It can be so frustrating living in this area in comparison with other cities in France, such as Montpellier (which has particular significance for me)… Indeed, it’s so busy in the Paris area, or “l’Ile de France” as we call it. It’s crowded with people, and cars, therefore traffic jams. Don’t think that you can head off to Normandy on a Friday evening after your day at work… The roads will be jammed, and even worse it’s likely there’s a traffic accident. You can say goodbye to your nice evening in Deauville. 

So, you might decide to go to Paris, to the Champs Elysée, if there are no demonstrations that is. Before the pandemic, the “Gilets Jaunes”, for instance, occupied this famous avenue every weekend, causing trouble, destroying beautiful sites … turning it into a war zone. In fact, I went to take pictures of the aftermath one weekend. I’ll write a blog about this and share my pictures in the near future.

So it’s not easy… But, I should stop complaining (sorry, being French, complaining’s in my genes!) 

It’s true that Paris … is Paris. Such a beautiful city. Normandy’s  loaded with history… What you need, however,  is time. Time to plan your weekends, to take traffic into account and try to get round it.  When you have a van like me it’s a great advantage for day trips:   you can have lunch in the van, you can go for a nice hike, discover scenic spots and perhaps even find a pitch for the night.

So why not follow me on Instagram? You’ll be notified when my next blog is posted. I’ll document my outdoor photography and take you with me on my journey.

Until next time, stay safe…