This photo belongs to a series I made while walking around Paris, and although it may feel a little out of context on its own, it became one of the gems I rediscovered years later.

I had been doing fashion photography between Paris, Milan, and New York for a while, and I thought I had fallen out of love with photography. On a gray, cold fall morning, I loaded my camera with a roll of Tri-X film and went for a walk. I ended up strolling around the Jardin des Tuileries and started shooting for myself: no editors, no models, no hair and makeup, and no timelines. It was fun and relaxing, and I realized that what I was tired of was not photography itself, but the business side of fashion photography at that moment.

I was rediscovering the joy of taking photos for my own satisfaction. I dropped the film off at my local lab in Paris to be developed, but then work and life took over. The negatives were developed, yet I simply stored them away. I never made a contact sheet or a single print; they went into the “Box O’ Stuff” I kept meaning to return to later.

I finally got to that roll of film forty years later, when I opened the “Box O’ Stuff” and realized just how many photos I had put on hold. I started making contact sheets with my scanner and discovered images I would have dismissed back then, when everything was measured by whether it belonged in a portfolio for fashion work.

Now they feel brand new to me, full of potential and free from the expectations that once kept me from seeing them clearly.

So here is my plug for wandering around with a camera and no agenda: take the photo walk, follow whatever catches your eye, and make photos because something in the moment nudges you to and feels right. Even on a gray day, maybe especially on a gray day, there is usually a little magic waiting to be noticed.

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

I love the alignment of the trees and the assortment of wood squares around the trees.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or differently?

Not much I could do; that Paris no longer exists, but I might try to get more people walking in the distance between the trees.

Warren Doering shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Warren Doering, USA

VERO
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Equipment and settings

Nikon F3
Tri-X film