unpossessed places

In Paris the scale of the streets changes from intimate to formal, from run down to elegant. All the while, decorated with posters, graffiti, endlessly advertising store fronts and of course plants where they can squeeze them. Just a hint of the natural world, like weeds growing in cracks, they anchor the wood and glass and concrete to the earth. There are many layers to the street, doors lead into courtyards, barely there passages lead to another street; they can be strangely intimate and then shockingly public. Storefronts disappear at night, as shutters open and close and perspective changes. The buildings change colour depending on where the sun is; small streets fill with people or remain empty. Sometimes when you walk down a street the opposite way, it feels like a different place entirely and suddenly you are lost. Getting lost in a place you know like the back of your hand, is one of the magic things about living in a city like Paris. It has millions of stories being told simultaneously, millions of Paris’ therefore exist and this is but one of them.