Paris Fix

This little diddly is the first article I wrote and what inspired to finally try to launch a writing + photoblog. I've decided to re-post it. Enjoy :)

Tripping around Paris
My little Paris
My own little fix
When I crave
To be a City Gurl

Taking photos
Giggling at silly tourists
And helping the lost ones
The smell of the Metro
The heat of the Metro


Tripping from one museum to the next
A conversation with a girlfriend in a Parisian café
Sitting on a bench under a tree
In the nearest Jardin
Eating fresh chocolate
Walking past a fountain
Going to a Bikram yoga class

And at the end of the day,
When I've finished playing
The City Gurl role
Racing through the countryside
In the TGV
I return to my little city
By the sea

 

And I appreciate once again
The little Disney-like Metro
The smell of the sea salt in the air
The seagull's cry
The sea wind

The silence
Interrupted only by the
Occasional passing car
My favorite café: La Part des Anges
Eating fresh chocolate
Sitting under a tree
In the nearest Jardin...

And so, I've had my little Paris fix
Until the return of the city itch....

Poitiers : the beginning...

Pont Napoléon in Paris - but wait, 

I'm NOT in Paris! ;)

I first came up with the "An American NOT in Paris" idea my 3rd year in France. When I returned to the States, several people I knew at the time would always ask, "So, how's Paris?" Grrr...


From my personal experience, from what I've seen in the media and also from what I've seen in books written by Americans who live in "France" but are living the life of the wealthy of Rîve Gauche, Americans tend to have this romantic image that France is Paris, Omaha Beach in Normandy and the Côte d'Azur. 

Living here is NOT all champagne and caviar. The salaries are waaay too low, too many taxes that make it way too difficult to hire anyone for a job... BUT I LOVE having full-covered healthcare and the back-up of unemployment, just in case... BUT, the country really needs to change its perception of obtaining employment with a decent salary.








There is more paperwork that we have to do here than any other country besides China. My tiny closet space is literally bursting with paperwork that I have to keep. "Paparasse" or paperwork is so time-consuming that people have to take time off from work in order to have a "jour d'administration" - literally, an administration day where you run around to all of the different places you have to go and take care of paperwork, and organize more paperwork at home... 




And then, you have to wait anywhere from 3-6 weeks for the "paparasse" to go through.... It's a vicious circle. Once those 3-6 weeks have passed, you receive a letter stating that you did not sign a paper in the correct square or you are missing yet another photocopy of your birth certificate, or your employer did not provide the right paperwork, and so on...

The train USED to be a cheaper mode of transportation. No more. The SNCF which USED to be a 100% government institution has become partially privatized and is now a commercial, capitalized commodity. Going to Paris in the TGV from where I live USED to only cost around 35-50€ one way. It has nearly doubled in price over the past four years. I now drive my little old French car (very reliable but I definitely prefer my Honda when I go home). But when I hear my mom complaining about gas prices in the States ONCE AGAIN, I always say, "Man, that's still twice as less as it is over here." You do the math : to fill up my little Renault Clio (gas not diesel - diesel is usually about 50¢ cheaper) costs me on the average 1.50€ PER LITER. 1€ = $1.30 (on the average) and there are about 4 LITERS PER GALLON. To fill up this little car :

 

My gas is roughly = $75.

 

My point is, my dear fellow Americans, STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT GAS PRICES!!!

 
I digress.

I want to burst that bubble and open your eyes to other beautiful and historically amazing places through my photography. 

Without further ado, some photos of France - Warning: the following images are NOT of Paris ;)

And we're back!

While my photo website is under construction, I've decided to revive this blog! More to come from An American NOT in Paris! Ciao! :)

Pendant que mon site-web est en cours, je recommence ce blog! Encore d'autres photos / articles à venir! 
Ciao! :)

Pour Photo à l'Ouest : Projet Mississippi

Proposition d’un projet photographique – Natalie Schmitz

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

C’est de cette façon que tous les enfants apprennent à l’oral l’orthographe de cet état. En utilisant la musicalité du mot, les enfants américains le chantent dans les cours d’école.

Le Mississippi a une histoire riche et fascinante tant que musical, littéraire, et politique (le mouvement des droits civiques). Mon approche  est d’abord influencée par le photo-reportage et le style portrait faisant  écho au travail d’Alain Desvergnes. Pour vous montrer ce style, voici quelques exemples de mon travail (la dernière parade du Mardi Gras) à La Nouvelle-Orléans (en numérique) :

Mon travail est influencé par des espaces.  Mon intérêt porte sur la perception qu’ont les gens sur leur ville, leur maison, leur rivière, et ainsi de suite.

Le but de ce projet est de créer un portail ouvrant au monde des musiciens et de l’état de Mississippi. J’ai aussi une approche cinématographique / documentaire ; mon oeil a toujours était attiré vers des peronnes ordinaires/lambda/anonymes mais qui ont une histoire  à raconter. “Le cinéma est pour raconter une histoire. Je réalise des films donc je suis conteur (storyteller),” a dit un ami réalisateur. Pour moi, la photographie est aussi un moyen de raconter et de partager une histoire ; mon projet raconte une histoire de cet état à travers ses musiciens, une culture que j’avais l’occasion à connaître quand j’ai habité à La Nouvelle-Orléans. Ci-dessous, des exemples des musiciens de la Louisiane :

Je pense aussi à une peinture intitulée “The Problem We All Live With” du célèbre artiste américain, Norman Rockwell, qui décrit l’un des évènements du mouvement des droits civiques de la jeune fille, Ruby Bridges (6 ans), sur le chemin vers une école primaire publique (public school) en 1960 dans le Sud :

www.tigerlilyphoto.com/projet_mississippi