This image follows my “rule number 6” from last week’s blog. Because I had not been able to stop and invest time in capturing the image I wanted to create, I made a return visit to a place that I had noted earlier as being interesting: underneath a pedestrian bridge in the atrium of Paribas Bank’s headquarters in Paris. 

Im Walking In The AirI'm Walking in the Air

Catalan Architect

The architect Ricardo Bofill designed this elegant structure, which replaced a multi-storey car park that had vandalized a traditionally elegant part of Paris. It was yet another stroke of architectural daring by the Paris authorities, returning a brutalized section of the city to a beautiful aesthetic. The building is not only elegant and transparent, but it now spans a covered street which allows pedestrians to stroll from Rue de Rivoli, through the Place du Marche St. Honoré,  to the  Avenue de l’Opera. For me, Sr.Bofill’s work continues the wonderfully inventive tradition of the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.

Walking In The Air

I love the haunting song of that name from the Christmas 1982 animation “The Snowman”. For that reason and because I also love “contre jour” photographs, I enjoy photographing silhouettes of people in the glass bridges that frequently link modern structures. This requires patience and timing. The former to await the arrival of a suitable subject and the latter to try and “freeze” them in a satisfying position.

Making A Virtue Out Of Necessity

Due to modern laws on privacy protection and image copyright I now always try to avoid identifying any person in a photograph, otherwise it may not be used by third parties.  An easy way to do this is to ensure that the individuals are reduced to a silhouette, which is easy at night, in front of a light source, but difficult during the day. This turns out to work well though, when capturing subjects through glass, such as on this occasion, which is an ancillary bonus for a working photographer. You can view some other examples of this in the “Black and White” gallery of my Limited Editions section.

The Aesthetic Of The Image

I particularly love the fact that the architecture in general creates a “light”, reflective structure that integrates its modernity with the surrounding Haussman era buildings, as well as providing integrated views of old and new through the atrium and the transparent pedestrian bridges. For me, the dreamlike walker is floating through the space of the older buildings, suspended by the wires like a tightrope artist. I waited for the illumination of the windows on each side of the distant street to develop under the effect of reflections, as the sun set lower in a clear Spring sky. This also assisted in the silhouette effect that I intended. The overall effect for me, was  one of contrasting time, history, purpose and light.

Technical

Since I was braced with both feet and a monopod, VR was switched off. To enhance the street behind the building, I chose f/9 and a reasonably good quality ISO of 400.

Data

Camera: Nikon D800

Lens: VR 70-200mm zoom f/2.8G

Focal Length: 170 mm

VR: Off

Focus Mode: AF-C

Aperture: f/9

Shutter Speed: 1/320s

Auto Focus -Area Mode: Single

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Exposure Compensation : 0EV

Metering: Matrix

ISO Sensitivity: 400

Mounted on a Monopod

Copyright Paul Grayson 2014