Sitting Around in Paris

The Paris Vignettes series features the inspired work of street photographer William “Bill” O’Such in themed installments

Inspired by this month’s Street Photography of France competition, themed “s’asseoir dans la rue” – roughly translated to “sitting around the streets of Paris” – I embarked a few weeks ago on a quest for compelling subjects. A specific rule stipulated that photographs could not feature individuals seated in cafés or restaurants, adding an intriguing layer to the challenge.

My photographic exploration began one Sunday within the Jardin du Luxembourg, where I captured a gentleman engrossed in the New York Times (“assis à Paris – New York Times”). As I meandered through the park, a striking observation emerged: Parisians seemed to embrace reading books outdoors to a far greater extent (“assis à Paris – livre de dimanche”) than I’ve witnessed in San Francisco or other cities I’ve visited. These competition themes possess a remarkable ability to highlight everyday details that might otherwise escape our notice.

That evening unfolded with scenes of people leisurely congregating along the Seine (“assis à Paris – samedi le long de la Seine”) and the Canal Saint-Martin (“assis à Paris – canal Saint-Martin”), all savoring the pleasant spring twilight. In the following days, my wanderings near the Bassin de l’Arsenal revealed a young woman finding solace in her music (“assis à Paris – musique et musique”), while nearby, two young men were locked in intense concentration over a board game (“assis à Paris – concentration”). Following a visit to the illuminating Hockney exhibition, I spotted in the distance a solitary figure seated in a secluded corner of a nearby park (“assis à Paris – seul”).

With the competition deadline drawing near, I now face the delightful and challenging dilemma of selecting the most captivating image from this series, or perhaps hoping for a serendipitous moment to present itself during this weekend’s Parisian flânerie.