Blog 21 12 18 Flying ButtressesCopyright 2020 Paul Grayson AMDG

Poor Notre Dame de Paris! Discovering the fire was one of those times that you remember where you were, when you heard of the tragedy. I am old enough to remember Kennedy’s assassination and, more recently, 9/11 and the Bataclan massacre in Paris. On these occasions, I was, respectively: at home in Edinburgh, in my office in Paris and in a café in Paris. It seems strange that I was in Las Vegas, when a friend phoned and urged me to turn on the TV, just in time to see that utterly iconic spire tumble into the ruins. In shock, I sat and cried along with the rest of the world.

As a citizen of Paris, I am living the adventure of the reconstruction alongside the army of skilled, courageous workers and experts of every sort, who are recovering this jewel, for us to enjoy it again in the future. I record images of its progress on the occasions when I can bring myself to relive the pain of its near-loss, because I am trusting in its gradual return to safe, solid, beauty. I try to resolve the hurt with trite visual comparisons between the Gothic architecture and the surrounding structures of rescue metal. The small distinction between the original mass of fire-damaged scaffolding, which could have completely destroyed it forever, and the new structures which ensure its future powerfully impacts me. 

Settings

Camera: Nikon D850

Lens: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR

VR: On

Drive Mode: Single

Focal Length: 130mm 

Auto Focus-Area Mode: Single

Aperture: f/8

Shutter Speed: 1/400s

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Exposure Compensation: +0.0 EV

Metering: Pattern

ISO Sensitivity: 400

Format: Raw

Mounted on Monopod

Place : Notre Dame, Paris

Year: 2021