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Filed under: Behind The Picture, Paris, Photography

20 comments

These two young people and their dogs were camped out on the pavement of the busiest street of central Paris opposite the Town Hall.

Kiss by the Hotel de Ville - 2009: Photo: Mark Tedeschi

They were lying on the footpath around dusk time completely oblivious of the throng of people going past them.

They were surrounded by all their paraphernalia – backpacks, sleeping bags and so forth - and two of their three dogs were frolicking around.

Despite the fact that there was very little ambient light, I immediately took out my camera, a Nikon D700, which is fabulous in low light situations, and set it at ISO 6400, which is a very high setting.

After receiving a nod of approval from the couple, I proceeded to take a number of photos of them and their dogs from different angles using available light at f8 and 1/60th second.
What was unusual was that they were not down and out people. They were just young trendies flaunting their sense of freedom. I took quite a few photographs of them, circling around them, and all the while the public were just streaming by.

They were lying head-to-foot and engaged in a very intimate discussion with each other and kissing from time to time. It was as though the rest of the world just didn’t exist.

When I later got back to where I was living and downloaded the images, I was very pleased with how little noise and pixilation there was, despite the low light and high ISO.

I was struck by the synchronicity between the couple and the two dogs in the photo. I soon realised that the place where I had taken the shots was exactly the same as one of the world’s most famous photographs taken by Robert Doisneau in 1950 called “Kiss by the Hotel de Ville”.

Kiss by the Hotel de Ville - 1950. Photo: Robert Doisneau

In Doisneau’s photograph, a young couple are locked in a passionate embrace in the same location opposite the Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) of Paris, whilst other Parisians walk disdainfully past them.

I am very pleased with my image because it captures the synchronicity between the couple and their dogs; it captures something essential about this couple’s intimate interchange and their oblivion at everything around them; and it conveys the transformation of romance from the 1950s to today.

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20 comments

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- Josh says:
  
  01:14pm | 11/01/12
  
  Bon Photograph!!!! I really think you make a photographer!!!!
  
  Reply
- Martin says:
  
  07:10am | 03/10/09
  
  Love the shot. The life separation is amazing! The couple and the dogs both separated from a totally different world. I feel drawn in and thank you for sharing this moment. A moment that says that there is more…
  
  and yes give up the day job and keep telling the story
  
  Reply
- jez says:
  
  06:49pm | 30/09/09
  
  “Mr Doisneau’s photo could simply be a goodbye kiss as the two depart from lunch…”
  
  As much as I admire Doisneau’s work, “Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville” isn’t a candid street shot: it’s a set-up. Doisneau paid actors to pose for an assignment for Life magazine in 1950.
  
  Reply
- Tim says:
  
  10:18pm | 20/09/09
  
  A few of observations that substantiate some strength of the image.
  
  - A little time taken with a subject has led to choosing an angle of view that no passerby would have. Because the image was made from about waist height it offers the viewer a view not normally seen and with it, fresh details not typically observe that tell a unique story.
  
  - No distinguishable interaction between the main subject and photographer gives candidness and with it one less element to manufacture a viewers reaction. The result is, more of a chance to ‘guess’ what is going on and construct our own narrative.
  
  - Black & White. Less is more. It just works!
  
  And there is a breadth of related information in this image that could tell any number of diverse anecdotes.
  
  Some of the comments here are from people who like this image, some by people who certainly don’t. It matters not. If it gets people talking (or in our new world, leaving electronic comments) that is constructive. It has made people pause enough to think about it. Mission accomplished.
  
  Reply
- Lyndon says:
  
  02:01pm | 18/09/09
  
  can we get more behind the picture stories? these are great and i find them really interesting.
  
  Reply
- Sian says:
  
  07:48am | 18/09/09
  
  I really like the photo. I think Doisneau’s shot was so effective because it looks like the world’s rushing on around them while they’re frozen in one moment. Not quite the same with the modern couple, but I think the playing dogs add extra depth.
  
  I think the Punch has one of the meanest groups of commenters I’ve seen on a news/blog site. People just dismiss stuff outright.
  
  Reply
- Medway says:
  
  12:39pm | 10/09/09
  
  I stand with artists.
  Whether they may be begging, setting a trend, backpacking and taking pleasure in the weather that is Paris, this does take on the feeling of intimacy.
  Mr Doisneau’s photo could simply be a goodbye kiss as the two depart from lunch, or an incideous plan to generate an Underground Nazi organisation and he is actually passing on correspondance inconspicuously, ironically through public display.
  That still doesn’t deter from the mood of the photo.
  
  The photo is quite pleasing. Were the assumtive people to look past the seemingly tattered rags and backpacks, and believing the pups to be mongrels picked up from the street, you would see the eyes connecting between the two showing the intimacy that is similar to Mr Doisneau’s photo as well.
  
  To the pedantists, the Little ‘hat’ in front of the couple seems to be being used as an ash tray. My eyesight may be becoming poorly due to visual snow, but it still looks like a cigarette butt to me.
  As for comparing the two photos, Chris has nailed it on the head. They’re both very different, and Mr Doisneaus photo does come out on top, but that is just a matter of photographic focus.
  
  To the photographer, this is a really good photo. With the environment you described, your photos have come out really well. It’s also very entertaining to see that you noticed the locale of your shots to be close to the same.
  
  Reply
- Andrea says:
  
  10:13am | 08/09/09
  
  What is wrong with people on this blog? It’s a great image. Whether they are begging or not doesn’t change that. And what’s wrong with begging anyway? No one forces you to give if you don’t want to.
  
  Reply
- chuck says:
  
  04:33pm | 07/09/09
  
  I hate hippies and this re-affirms this dread.
  
  Reply
- h says:
  
  01:24pm | 31/08/09
  
  I like the image and the backstory is interesting. People are being a tad harsh with the criticism here - I think the photographer is allowed to describe the connection they felt with another shot, I don’t think that’s really the same as comparing yourself directly with the photographer.
  
  Reply
- Kylie says:
  
  02:09pm | 18/08/09
  
  This photograph confirms two things for me. Parisian’s don’t control their canine’s, hence their city’s aesthetic issues involving ample dog waste. And the French are (how you say….) smelly. Another word for smell would be stink, which I feel this picture does well.
  
  The phtographers attempt to liken himself to Doisneau is quite likely, the most offensive aspect of this article, to my nose.. so to speak (or type as it were).
  
  Reply
- Brendon says:
  
  11:08am | 13/08/09
  
  Maybe they are redundancy victims.
  Down and out - trendy beggars.
  
  Love the black and white - and the contrast of the people / building in the background.
  
  Reply
- Lyndon says:
  
  09:31am | 13/08/09
  
  Yes it’s a shot of a couple begging but made very interesting by the story. Often the background story is just as interesting, and sometimes more interesting than the shot itself, thank-you for sharing your perspective. I thinks its admirable you got their permission first as well, most photographers would just snap without asking.
  I would have preferred to see the authentic colour version of the shot, I think this would have made for a stronger contrast to the authentically shot 50s B&W Doisneau image.
  
  Reply
- daz says:
  
  12:58pm | 12/08/09
  
  the black and white aspect of the city is the only real appeal here. not the people on the pavement and their dogs…. definately nothing to talk about. nothing at all special with this
  
  Reply
- Chris says:
  
  01:43pm | 11/08/09
  
  While I don’t think it’s the greatest photo in the world, I think it’s a subtle moment in time captured nicely on film, and the background info makes for a good read. Not everything has to be IN YOUR FACE to be worthwhile.
  
  As Dani pointed out, who cares if they were begging? More to the point, do they look particularly desperate to you? Evan Pederick, hope you didn’t give up your dayjob to write comments, cause yours quite clearly blows.
  
  Reply
- Dani says:
  
  01:22pm | 11/08/09
  
  Wow, people are being heaps harsh. I think it’s a really nice picture. Who cares if they are begging or not? Its a cool photo!
  
  Reply
- McCoy Pauley says:
  
  10:44am | 11/08/09
  
  The couple are clearly begging. The cap plumped for maximum coinage is put right in front of them.
  
  Reply
- stephen says:
  
  10:24am | 11/08/09
  
  I like the photo, and there are some images there are specially interesting, such as the bicycle and the mural in the background. I would have taken shots much closer to the couple and shown more of their features, maybe at say, f5.6, and put the dogs slightly off frame. ( They are quite central to this street scene, and to put them off centre would include the photographer’s ‘nonchalance’ into the picture.)
  
  P.S. Love B&W photos.
  
  Reply
- Evan Pederick says:
  
  09:27am | 11/08/09
  
  Overblown nonsense attempting to justify a banal image.
  
  Please - please - don’t give up your day job.
  
  Reply
- Jason says:
  
  08:59am | 11/08/09
  
  I think you might be photographing through rose coloured lenses. They look like they are begging. Is that a hat for coins in front of them? You describe them as ‘trendies”. I’m not sure if the les trandies de PAris would approve! I would describe them more as feral.
  
  Reply