I’ve been working on a post about the impact of the Japanese woodblock printers on artists in Paris around the turn of the 20th Century and how, even today, I still feel that creative energy. One artist in particular interests me, Henri Rivière. Rivière did a limited edition book titled Les Trente-six vues de la Tour Eiffel (The 36 Views of the Eiffel Tower) which I find captivating.
I began looking through my work for an image or two that I might use to accompany my post.
I found this photo that I took from a taxi window as we rocketed around the Place de la Concorde. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I got sidetracked, began working on it and forgot the original purpose of my search. C’est la vie.
Traffic on the Place de la Concorde is in the spirit of Rivière. It is an everyday Parisian scene and the Eiffel Tower is in the frame. However, where Rivière distills his image to the fewest lines, the influence of the Japanese, my photo is complex and “photographic.”
Tomorrow, I’ll return to my original post and, if I can keep from further creative distractions, finish it.