Paris Through the Eyes of Photographer Clara Abi Nader

Join me as I recap an unforgettable photography tour of Paris with professional Parisian photographer Clara Abi Nader. During our photowalk, Clara guided me to hidden corners of the city that I’d have never found on my own. Not only did I capture creative images, but I also sharpened my skills in composition, storytelling, and technique.

In this episode, among other topics, Clara and I explore the world of street photography in Paris, reflecting on our photowalk and the invaluable lessons learned along the way. Whether you’re passionate about street photography, a fan of Parisian culture, or simply love a great travel story, this conversation has something for everyone.

Transcript

00:00:00:06 - 00:00:32:19

Sometimes I even suggest that to people. Go out without a camera, but go out and tell yourself that you are going to look around. Observe in order to study life, to study composition, to study life. And I think that helps you to kind of construct frames and images in your hand and train your eye so that this helps you in the future when you're there with your camera to really act quick, especially when it comes to street photography, you always have to be anticipating and just be quick. 

00:00:32:21 - 00:00:33:28

Take your shot. Move on. 

00:00:37:10 - 00:00:58:24

Welcome to the Big Photo  Hunt Podcast, a show where we talk with aspiring and professional photographers to help us all grow and improve our photography together. I'm your host, Ken Deckinger. If you're one of our community members and you'd like to be a guest on the show, please visit BigPhotohunt.com for more information. 

00:01:09:03 - 00:01:41:05

I just got back from Paris last week. One of the best things I did on this trip was to book a photowalk with a local professional photographer named Clara Abi Nader. I met Clara one morning at a metro stop. Well, I mean, I didn't meet her at a stop. We set up a specific metro stop as our meeting point. She took me on her preplanned route, showing me parts of the city that I otherwise wouldn't have known about. As my guide, Clara, pointed out cool shots for me to consider and she helped me improve my compositions. 

00:01:41:07 - 00:02:13:00

It was great. I made a new friend and Clara was super cool. So cool that I wanted to share my experience with you and talk about our photowalk. If you have plans to travel to Paris, or any city for that matter, I highly recommend booking some time with a local photographer. It was truly an enriching experience and hopefully, Clara, you'll come visit me in the States so that I can take you on a photowalk in my city. Oh, and by the way, Clara is my guest today on the show, if you haven't noticed. 

00:02:15:29 - 00:02:24:25

Clara, it is so great to see you. I just I'm having a rough morning. I just spilled coffee all over my desk. It's not even good coffee. 

00:02:25:18 - 00:02:28:05

I'm so sorry I had to wake you up so early. 

00:02:28:12 - 00:02:43:18

No, I wake up at, like, 6 a.m. every day, but I'm just slow the last few days. And then today, I was like, okay, I'm going to drink a lot of coffee before I see Clara, which I don't need extra coffee, but I figured I'd have a lot today. And then I just spilled it on my desk. 

00:02:44:15 - 00:02:47:14

Did you have some or not? Not even. Yeah, I. 

00:02:47:16 - 00:02:48:21

Had some, I had some. 

00:02:48:29 - 00:02:51:05

Well, you can make another one if you want. I have time. 

00:02:51:07 - 00:03:06:18

No no no no no. We're good. So I wanted to just have a conversation and share with our listeners all about photography in Paris. You are from Lebanon. You've been in Paris for, what, ten years now or a little more than ten years? 

00:03:06:20 - 00:03:09:08

12 going on my 13 year? Yeah. 

00:03:09:10 - 00:03:14:23

And so tell everyone about yourself, your photography journey. What makes Clara. Clara? 

00:03:15:13 - 00:04:06:16

I think I always kind of describe myself as lucky, because I have found out right from the start, or rather early after school, that I wanted to become a photographer. And then it was actually my sister who really pushed me to go for that journey, I guess. So she encouraged me to apply to art school in Beirut and this is what I did. But it wasn't like that. That really kind of launched me as an artist, I think. Of course, it was a good base to have. And so after graduating, that was, I think around 20, uh, 2010, I spent a year just doing internships with fashion photographers, assisting them, taking on small projects, and also on the side kind of starting to work on my first art project, which was basically taking pictures. 

00:04:07:16 - 00:04:38:14

That's not great. I shouldn't encourage anyone to do that. But basically I was taking photos while driving of people driving next to me. But I never had an accident. I'm completely fine and I was just using a very small like kind of toy camera, as I can call it. That way. It was a film camera, so I just needed to point and shoot, and I think that was really the trigger that made me want to pursue personal projects in that sense. During that same year. I was getting also really interested into cinema as well. 

00:04:38:21 - 00:05:09:25

And there was this specific French director from the Nouvelle Vague called Eddie Cormiert. I really loved his films, and it spoke to me a lot, because he basically just takes any kind of random, banal story from everyday life and just made a movie out of it, and I loved that. And I think this is how I would describe most of my photography. Not all of it, but parts of it. And then, yeah, I think one thing led to another. A friend of mine mentioned cinema school in Paris. I looked it up, I applied. 

00:05:10:01 - 00:05:17:28

I got in and all of that happened, and maybe 3 or 4 months, and I got to Paris on the 31st of August. 

00:05:19:20 - 00:05:23:15

Were you shooting and doing photography in Beirut before you left Lebanon? 

00:05:24:03 - 00:05:50:15

Not much. No. Not as much as I do today. Of course, I was just much younger and not experienced as now. And, uh, politically also, you're very limited because that that country is really, like, just ready to lose its own head, I think, uh, by anything. So, um, I think I have just more resources and more freedom being in France and Paris. 

00:05:51:02 - 00:05:56:06

When you got to Paris, did you feel more inspired to get into photography more? 

00:05:56:08 - 00:06:26:29

Yeah for sure. Just being here, I think it was just great because I mean, I was, I think 22 or 23, I had never been to Paris or France before. I had gone to Europe, like, I think Rome or some other places. But yeah, I mean, the first time being in Paris. No, that was just great. And I just love the fact that I could walk anywhere I wanted to. Being able to be on the streets and to sit in a cafe, spend hours and not do anything and just watch people. 

00:06:27:11 - 00:06:36:03

I loved it. That was really cool. Uh, so of course it inspired me and that inspired me to take a lot of, um, to get into street photography, actually. 

00:06:36:24 - 00:06:46:06

The street. Photography is cool because I feel like you could point your camera almost anywhere, and as long as it was kind of composed well, and there were people in the shot like there was some kind of story unfolding. 

00:06:46:22 - 00:07:02:19

People here are just also, they can be wary of you as a photographer, but not as much either. Uh, as long as you know your boundaries. Um, you know when to look away or not. Um, I think you're welcome in general. 

00:07:02:25 - 00:07:15:17

I was totally naive. And of course, I speak no French, so I was fine. I remember we were walking around and like people were saying in French, don't take my photo, please. And I couldn't understand a word they were saying. So as far as I was concerned, everything was great. 

00:07:16:07 - 00:07:17:22

That helps. Sometimes it helps. 

00:07:18:05 - 00:07:51:12

I love going to countries. Yeah, countries where I don't speak the language. I don't know if I told you this or not, but I went to this patisserie one morning and there was a woman serving behind the counter, and there was a man in a construction uniform buying croissants or like a baguette or something. And I just loved it. I loved like the pastries. I love this woman with the contrast against this big like, burly construction man. And like he was, had like an orange and yellow outfit. It just everything kind of worked. I started taking pictures and she was not happy with that. 

00:07:51:14 - 00:08:09:06

And she clearly made like express that to me. I don't think she was being she was being rude, but I didn't know. I couldn't understand the words she was saying. But it was clear that like she didn't want a photo taken, so I just put it away. Got a good photo, but I'm not going to use it because I want to respect her. Why? 

00:08:09:08 - 00:08:10:29

Well, that's nice of you. Yeah, I. 

00:08:11:01 - 00:08:31:00

Try to be a little bit respectful. There's so many opportunities to get photos out there. So, like, if you take a photo of someone that doesn't want it, like you can find others. And also like when I look back at photos of people that I take on the street, if I have a bad experience, that photo reminds me of that bad experience. And so I don't want that photo any more than they want their photo taken. 

00:08:32:00 - 00:08:33:11

I understand. Yeah, sure. 

00:08:33:28 - 00:08:43:26

Paris is consistently ranked as one of the top photography cities in the world. Why is that? What makes Paris such a great city for photography? 

00:08:44:27 - 00:09:26:05

I think it's just having the opportunity to be around people from everywhere. They I think it's more than ever like a multicultural city. And it feels good to me at least, to be in those neighborhoods that have so many communities. And then and also the fact that it has a lot of students, it has a lot of tourists, it has a lot of people also living here. So locals. Um, yeah, it creates, I think, a beautiful movement of conversation and people all around you, but also visually, because every person coming from a different country has its own his own identity to thus fashion make. 

00:09:26:07 - 00:09:32:20

Of course, I mean, that's doesn't play, but it adds to it. So being like the fashion, the fashionable city. 

00:09:32:29 - 00:10:04:05

I think we talked about that when we were walking. I explained how I looked at my camera and I had all these pictures of women on the street, and I explain to my wife, I'm like, I'm not just taking pictures of women. She didn't really care. I'm just joking. But all these pictures of women. And I was like, I really am fine taking more pictures of men. But like, the women were the stylish ones and the men like, even in Paris. I mean, there's a lot more stylish men. Of course, in Paris everyone's more stylish than here in the States. I mean, I'm wearing sweatpants right now and like, some little furry slippers, but I think that actually. 

00:10:04:07 - 00:10:35:21

Anna black t shirt. I always wore black t shirts. I'm colorblind, as we talked about. You do? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I have, I have a subscription to a black t shirt of the Month club, and once a month I get a black t shirt in the mail. I'm colorblind and, like, there's so many times I walk out of the house and it just things don't match or, I don't know, I just it's just easier. So every month. What what what is it? Oh, it's about du it's about. It's like on the fifth of every month I get a t shirt in the mail, a black t shirt. Okay. Um, and they actually, this company actually sells other colors and stuff, but I just get black. 

00:10:35:23 - 00:11:08:14

I don't want another color. I don't want to have to deal with the stress of trying to figure out what it works with, what it matches with. It's just black anyway, I see. Okay, but I wound up taking a lot of pictures of women on the streets in Paris, uh, partially because they were just so stylish. And you had these backgrounds of a cafe or even just a wall or something, and you had these women in, like, just cool outfits and, like, they were just strutting their stuff like they own the place. Then I got some photos of men too, doing interesting stuff, but a lot of them, at least the ones I was walking around. 

00:11:08:16 - 00:11:12:11

It was just like just normal people. Um, I thought that was really interesting. 

00:11:12:13 - 00:11:39:09

I agree with you. I think a big part of my street photography has, uh, I mean, has, um, my interest, I would say, in street photography is generally fashion and, uh, it could be about patterns. It could be about colors, it could be about a scarf. So the shape, um, the hairdo, uh, and. Yeah, most of the time I have more women in my shots rather than men. It is what it is. 

00:11:39:11 - 00:12:10:03

I guess it is what it is. I did get a photo. I forget what it was, but I got some photos towards the end of our trip that were of some really cool looking men that that I was inspired by. I'll share them with you as we go. So we went to movement for our listeners. Mama, they haven't been to Paris. Mama is a hill. And at the top of the hill there is a village for artists and it's pretty touristy. It's beautiful, but it's touristy. It's overrun by tourists. The restaurants are all for tourists. It's tourist prices. 

00:12:10:05 - 00:12:37:11

They're selling like prints on the street, of paintings that are all for tourists. Everything's for tourists. I think I went into, like, a dried fruit store and bought, you know, a bag of dried fruit, which is just for tourists. But I loved it. It was great. And we went around it in the peripheral right at, like the base of the hill. Yeah. That neighborhood was gorgeous. Can you tell me more about where we went and also why you chose to take me to that neighborhood? 

00:12:38:02 - 00:13:08:07

So in general, I kind of enjoy doing my most of my day tours, my day photo tours and moments just because it's easy to walk around it. It's kind of more friendly towards pedestrians. And yeah, it's kind of nice. And like you said, it's kind of a village, so it has a slower rhythm, I think. And being on a hill, it kind of offers sometimes like really nice points of views. It could be on a street, it could be on a staircase, it could be on the city. 

00:13:08:12 - 00:13:48:05

And yeah, it's just really like that about it. But also it has kind of like a personal story because when I first moved to Paris, I had the chance to live on top of the hill for about seven months, and it was amazing until of course, it got boring and annoying and just tiring because like you're saying, is just made for tourists. So it was kind of impossible to feel at home in the middle of all that chaos. So eventually I moved out. But then, yeah, I think it just has that charm. And after moving out from the top of the hill, I was able to find a flat down by the base and get to know more of, like all of the area that I was able to show you. 

00:13:48:23 - 00:14:22:04

And I saw the whole potential that it has because it's just like you're saying, it's just gorgeous. It's really beautiful buildings, beautiful avenues. And again, like in that loop that we did, you can move from like one community to another. So from one side it's more like posh. I'm going to say it. So towards the back. Yeah, I think it was always posh in that way. And then you just keep walking and then you hit the more like popular neighborhoods where it's a mixture of African and Arab communities, but also some Asian. 

00:14:22:06 - 00:14:53:08

And this is where I live now. It's more like in that, uh, very vibrant part of it. And I think, yeah, that's what I'm interested in showing people, because I believe that a person or like yourself, I mean, you can go to the car by yourself. You don't really need me to take you there. It's easy. Whereas I think if you come to me and you want to have my local perspective, I will be able to walk you very easily, like from one spot to another, without wasting time, without getting lost, showing and pointing out the most important spot. 

00:14:53:13 - 00:15:25:07

I would say that the side you took me to first was posh. Definitely posh. It was. It was pretty cool. It was beautiful. And that alley you took me to, and for our listeners, I took a photo. And then Clara, you were really helpful. You're like, hey, show me what you think you see here. Show me what how you would frame this. Show me the composition. You would you would make. And then you offered me suggestions. And that was really good. And all of your suggestions were better than my photos. Do you? Thank you. Oh, come on, it was excellent. And so, excuse me. Too much coffee that I spilled. 

00:15:25:14 - 00:16:00:24

One of the things I did find helpful on the tour that you took me on was that you did make an effort to recognize maybe areas that I could focus on for improvement. And I thought you were excellent because you were very subtle about it. Like we didn't really know each other. You know, I could have been offended by it. I could have told you to shove it, but I actually was. But I was there because I wanted that. And so you were really good at saying, hey, what if you did this? And here's why. Is that something that you do frequently, and how does that work with most of the people that you take on photo walks? 

00:16:01:12 - 00:16:33:23

I honestly really appreciate having your feedback because I don't generally get so much feedback and I question myself a lot, even after doing this for about eight years now. And to tell you the truth, at the beginning I didn't think at all I would be able to do any of that because I didn't have the confidence. I didn't have to trust. I didn't think that maybe. Yeah. Like, sometimes I feel that perhaps I lack some, some aspects of just. Like in providing that information, like you're saying subtly while being nice and not offending anyone. 

00:16:33:25 - 00:17:07:11

Because at the end of the day, it can be very personal photography. It's very personal. And when I ask you, show me what you would shoot, because I think that we all look at things differently. If I'm looking at, you know, I don't know if you remember. Well, any of you, um, say a staircase with some buildings or people and cafes. Uh, I mean, I could be focused on something else than than you. So the important thing for me is to see through your eyes and understand what's interesting for you in that composition, and just help you get a better composition. 

00:17:07:13 - 00:17:19:24

If I feel that something's lacking and often it's very intuitive in my head, honestly, I think, um, I just. I don't know, maybe it's experience. Maybe, um. 

00:17:21:12 - 00:17:43:17

It's just how I see things. Yeah, like I have, like, this kind of layering in my mind that makes me see that. Okay. If you move just a few centimeters to the right or to the left, up or down, that can affect your shot a lot. And I just want to remind people that it's really important to take the time to look, to move, and then decide while looking through your camera. 

00:17:44:01 - 00:18:17:16

It is very personal and there's so many ways you could compose a shot. What I took from your feedback was, oh, this is how Clara does it, and that's why she does it. And so I want to consider this. So it doesn't mean it's right and it doesn't mean it's right for me. But it's how she does it and it does have it is pretty sound. The suggestions you made were legit. I mean, they were pretty good. We were on a bridge and there was a bike lane, and in the bike lane there was like a print of a bike, you know, to indicate that it was a bike lane. And you're like, well, why don't you get lower and put that into the frame? And that was actually really helpful. 

00:18:17:18 - 00:18:35:19

It added some depth to the image. It also created a little bit of context, and I found myself then looking for those kind of opportunities later in the week as I was making photographs. And so that was helpful. By the way, happy anniversary. It's today. It was a week ago today, Tuesday, that we did this. So happy anniversary. Sure. 

00:18:35:21 - 00:18:36:19

Yeah, yeah. 

00:18:37:13 - 00:18:45:03

So when you take someone on a photo walk, how do you go about understanding maybe what they want to get out of this session. And how do you look at that. 

00:18:45:22 - 00:19:16:07

So I always make sure to ask that question at the beginning of the session, just to know what kind of things they feel like seeing. If it's just landmarks, then I just go for landmark. And if it's something more personal like we did together, I make sure to do that, and from there we can. We get to decide if they just want to learn basic things, composition settings, or if they do want to get more like in-depth into street photography. Again, like what we did, or just make sure to have gorgeous shots, especially in the evening. 

00:19:16:09 - 00:19:50:19

If we were to do like a night tour, then I just focus on them having like amazing shots. But also another thing that I always say that I mean, doing the session won't. I mean, it's not like a guarantee of having amazing shots at the end, especially with street photography. It's all about chance as well. If we don't come across specific people or things. I mean, yeah, we're not here to take the photo of the year. Maybe it will happen, but also hopefully it will make you do that shot later on by yourself and mostly have a good time. 

00:19:50:21 - 00:20:03:00

I wasn't looking for photo of the year I was. I was just looking to to learn and improve and just see parts of Paris that I maybe wouldn't be in, which we did. We went to what? So the moment is in what, the 15th. Is that right? 

00:20:03:28 - 00:20:04:21

The 18th. 

00:20:04:23 - 00:20:06:26

That's what I meant. The 18th and then. 

00:20:07:05 - 00:20:08:27

Things is way down south. 

00:20:09:18 - 00:20:14:03

Exactly what I meant. And then the 10th we went to the 10th. 

00:20:14:22 - 00:20:19:03

And the tent. Okay, so it was a mixture of both 18th and 10th. Yeah. 

00:20:19:05 - 00:20:39:08

And girdles, which is one of the train stations. And that was cool. There was a shot there with a man standing in the door looking back at us. He looked back, actually, uh, with some shadow, and I got that shot. I'll share that with you. It was pretty cool. It kind of frames him in the door and he's just kind of looking at us. I'm impressed you remember this? I, uh, I have. 

00:20:39:10 - 00:20:43:10

A visual memory, so. Yeah. Oh, it sticks in my head. 

00:20:43:12 - 00:21:03:13

I felt important for a minute. Okay, so. Oh, come on, come on. Okay. More more. No no no no no no no no no. So the Olympics are coming to Paris. Everyone's eyes are going to be on the city, including lots of photographers, in addition to calling you to take them on a photowalk. What would your tips be? 

00:21:04:15 - 00:21:35:06

I think Paris is going to become a very interesting city with the Olympics coming up. It's going to have some positive impact, but also negative. Uh, I'm sure I haven't, uh, really looked into the details yet, but I know for a fact that some areas around the river and a bit elsewhere where a lot of like these, um, sports events are going to happen, are going to be really restricted out of just precaution. So it might be tough to just like, go around these areas. 

00:21:35:08 - 00:22:07:20

I know, like you're going to need like a QR code or something to justify why you're there. So it's going to be annoying, but I'm sure that there are going to be so many other opportunities elsewhere along the river, but just not towards the Eiffel Tower, not towards the Champs-Elysees and the arc de Triomphe. So think more like around Notre Dame, uh, the Latin, uh district, the Luxembourg Gardens, uh, the Louvre. I think it might be tough, like Plaza de la Concorde. I know, like this is going to be all restricted as well. 

00:22:08:03 - 00:22:31:03

Um, MoMA should be fine. Canal San Martin should be fine. You know, there are really, like, other areas all around that are, like, nice to discover and just go on for a walk. Just watch out from pickpocketing. It has never happened to me. I've been lucky. But I'm also very cautious and very aware of everything that's happening around me. So watch out for that. 

00:22:32:00 - 00:22:52:24

I had heard that the entire area around the Eiffel Tower, all of the apartments there are going to be searched, required searches. So if you live on the park in the middle there where the Eiffel Tower is, and I think a block or two around it, your apartments are all required to be searched. 

00:22:53:26 - 00:23:17:17

Unfortunately and sadly since 2015 and the attack that happened on that concert venue, the Bataclan, it just created a lot of, um, tension in the city and the government is just more cautious in general and just creating like more prevention in terms of like, uh, yeah, whatever could occur, what can I do? It's a sad world. 

00:23:17:27 - 00:23:48:06

Yeah, I agree. I stayed in the Latin Quarter and loved it on this trip. I've stayed in Le Marais on a previous trip, and then before that I stayed over by. Like Gardner, I was much younger and had zero money and, like, just found some little hotel room for, like, I think it was like $20 a night and stayed there long since. Yeah, long time ago. But I stayed in the Latin Quarter and loved it because it was very warm and welcoming, and it also was still very local feeling. And there were people that were live there doing their thing. 

00:23:48:08 - 00:24:21:17

Plus and Monge had a market for two days out of the week. I went to that that was great. Some guy gave me cheese. He had this three year aged sheep cheese and I was like, what is that? It was literally like moldy and brown on the outside. And he cut a piece off and I put it in my mouth and I was like, whoa! And I gave it to my little daughter, and she was like, whoa! And then I was like, okay, I'd like to buy some cheese from you. So I bought some cheese and we just had a miscommunication there, and I think he sold me at like a half a kilo and. 

00:24:21:19 - 00:24:43:24

Oh, yeah. Ouch. It was a lot of cheese. And I because we were having a miscommunication, and he used his fingers to show me what I thought was a half a kilo. And I was like, well, that seems a little like I thought a half kilo was more, but I guess I'm wrong. So I asked him for a half a kilo, and he literally brought me like a chunk of cheese that fed us for the whole week. And I'm lactose intolerant. I shouldn't eat cheese. 

00:24:47:26 - 00:25:22:24

I don't know if you can hear, but summer is upon us here in the United States. For me, as someone who lives in the northeast corridor of our country, these are very special months for us. And so that's why I wanted to take a moment and let you know that my next episode will feature the talented New England photographer, Betty Wiley. Betty lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and not too many places say it's summertime like Cape Cod does. Her work features the sights of the Cape, such as New England lighthouses, beaches and boats. 

00:25:23:01 - 00:25:47:12

I got to tell you, I have a beach house on Cape Cod and I am yet to capture a fraction like a little, even teeny teeny fraction of the images that she magically produces. So if you love summer love, beach photography, and love or want to love New England imagery, join me for my next episode of the Big Photo Hunt podcast. Now back to the show. 

00:25:51:13 - 00:26:01:09

Isn't this great, Clara? Some random American bald guy goes on a photo walk with you, and then a week later, you're on a podcast and he's telling you about his lactose intolerance. 

00:26:01:23 - 00:26:08:08

That's life. But like, this is what I enjoy about these sessions. It's how intimate we can get. Only supposed to be ours. So I love it. 

00:26:08:15 - 00:26:25:07

It is life. It is life. And now everyone that's listening to this knows that if I eat cheese, I have gas. This is going nowhere fast. Car. Anyway, any overarching tips that you would give to people interested in coming to Paris for photography? 

00:26:26:08 - 00:26:54:19

Come with any camera that you have. I am not a photographer who tell you, uh, you need to have that gear. You need to have to, uh, to have that lens to shoot on raw. Um, I believe you can be creative with anything. Uh, especially with digital today. I mean, and smartphones just come with anything and just be ready to go out. Walk. Take the time, look around and take photos. 

00:26:55:12 - 00:27:07:01

Some of the best photos I got last week with my little Ricoh GR three. Just this little pocket camera and I just pulled it out. I was like which which I had my my Sony and there were some great photos with that too. But I love that little pocket camera. 

00:27:07:14 - 00:27:42:08

I mean, of course having a great lens changes, changes a lot, and the quality of your shots and obviously shooting on Raw will allow you so much freedom to work, uh, to work on later, uh, with your exposure or your white balance, uh, having a great sensor and so many pixels will allow you to crop in, but I think, I mean, I still have a very old smartphone. Uh, you know, I, I don't really stop. Um, or I at least I don't let the lack of equipment stop me from taking shots. 

00:27:42:20 - 00:27:49:15

And that's basically all I'm trying to say. Better gear is always good, for sure. But if you don't have it, that's fine. 

00:27:50:09 - 00:27:53:24

I think you reprimanded me for suggesting that I wanted to crop in. 

00:27:54:13 - 00:28:12:24

Yeah, I might have, I don't remember. Uh, yeah. And perhaps, like, the only thing I'm not a fan of is cropping in. I would always, like, encourage you to redo the shot. You're in Paris for, like, this one time. Move around. Get the shots that you want without thinking that. Oh, I'll crop it later. Don't be lazy. 

00:28:14:05 - 00:28:18:13

You were very polite about it, but I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you said to me. 

00:28:19:03 - 00:28:19:18

Amazing. 

00:28:20:10 - 00:28:53:18

How'd I do as a as a what am I, my client? As a photo? Walker. How did I do? You can be honest. You. You can be honest. Yes. Okay. As an apprentice, how did I do? You could be completely honest. Like, actually, let's judge. I'm just curious. Okay, so let's judge me on three different things. First is, as someone on a photowalk with you, just as a human being, as a person, like, did I keep up okay? Did I listen okay? How how is my behavior on a scale of 1 to 10? And you can be honest, if I was a three, I want people to know if that's the case. 

00:28:53:20 - 00:28:57:05

If not, you know, give me a 10 or 12 honesty here. 

00:28:57:07 - 00:29:30:13

Yeah. Be really cool. Seriously. And I'm not being nice just because, I mean, we're having this conversation, but yeah, I mean, like you like you said, I remembered whatever, like, shot we took or something. It's because I was really enjoying my time with you and that I felt that we are. I mean, we connected on so many levels in terms of images, in terms of just talking about random things. And it's really important to be able to just move from one topic to another, because at the end, we're just two human beings spending time together, uh, on the ground. 

00:29:30:15 - 00:30:01:28

And yeah, I mean, it's good to have a good time. And I think you were a really good listener. You were okay. Yeah, with advice and other suggestions. And I thought that you were receiving them. And that made me also, like, trust you and trust whatever I could tell you as well, because, uh, in other sessions where I feel that the other person is not listening and it's not really like taking in my advice. I mean, it's kind of uninspiring and it kind of blocks me off. 

00:30:02:00 - 00:30:31:17

And I would just go like, okay, I mean, they don't want it. Okay. There's no need to to fight back. I think that's what I learned, like in all those years is like, don't push back. You try for like an hour, an hour and a half, two hours. Sometimes I have a six hour session. Um, yeah. I mean, if they are just enjoying my presence and not really taking in whatever, whatever I'm saying, that's all right. And you were great. 

00:30:31:24 - 00:30:32:14

Oh! 

00:30:32:16 - 00:30:37:02

Come on. This is great. We gotta do this weekly. I'll ask you all kinds of questions. 

00:30:37:08 - 00:30:38:13

Boost you up? Yeah. 

00:30:39:12 - 00:30:44:05

I need the the encouragement. It was also raining, and we. 

00:30:44:07 - 00:30:46:18

Didn't have a great weather. No, no, but that was annoying. 

00:30:46:20 - 00:31:02:06

It was, but it led to some good photos. Like, I have that photo of the guy with the umbrella going down the stairs to the metro, and that was really cool. I'll show you that there's like water drops on top of the umbrella. There's a shot, a woman looking through a cafe window. And again, I think there was a lot of reflection because of the extra water around. That was pretty cool. 

00:31:02:15 - 00:31:03:00

Mhm. 

00:31:03:12 - 00:31:13:06

Is there anything that maybe you think it's important for people that are listening to this podcast to know about photography in Paris, or taking a photowalk in Paris? 

00:31:14:01 - 00:31:45:19

I guess don't hesitate to share their expectations with me or with any guide all over the world. Yeah, just always make sure to say what they're looking for, because sometimes I realized that some people were kind of like shy or hesitant about specifically saying what they wanted to, to do, to see. And even though, like, I could have or other people could have like a route or like a plan, which of course we need to have a plan. 

00:31:45:26 - 00:31:52:08

Um, I mean, I'm always happy to adapt to every person's, uh, needs and aspirations. 

00:31:53:08 - 00:32:02:01

All right. I have three questions that I ask every guest on my podcast. Question number one is what is your favorite genre to shoot and why? 

00:32:03:07 - 00:32:33:26

That's a question has always been tough for me. I don't feel like my photography fits into one category. I think that I have a multitude of like styles and things that I like to shoot. I obviously love doing street photography in Paris, so if you were to tell me what you enjoy the most to do in Paris, I would tell you street photography on my own personal free time. But then again in my like commercial or final if I can call that commercial. 

00:32:33:28 - 00:33:05:00

So my, my my dog parts of like uh freelancers life. So I work during the fashion week, so I cover fashion. And that's also another like genre that I love. Um, but then when I travel or when I go back home, I find myself doing more like landscapes, seascapes, just because I'm, I think. Leaving Paris and the chaos of the city to Lebanon. And where I have more space. More mountains and the sea and the sun. 

00:33:05:06 - 00:33:16:17

I tend to look for that kind of like peaceful setting and just go by myself and shoot landscape. So I can't really tell you I prefer this over the other. It's a mixture of all of that. 

00:33:18:10 - 00:33:21:15

Number two. What camera system do you use? 

00:33:22:13 - 00:33:22:28

Mhm. 

00:33:25:11 - 00:33:57:13

That's even worse than the first question. So I learned photography on a film camera which I still own and I still use until today. It's a canon A1. I love that camera just because it's very, um. Beautiful first. It's really stylish and it's really pretty. It's heavy. So at the end of the day, it kind of like feels heavy on my neck. I use the 50 millimeter lens on it most of the time. I think it just gives me, uh, the freedom to just, uh, or film in general. 

00:33:57:15 - 00:34:27:15

It gives me the freedom to shoot and focus, like a lot on that one shot. I'm allowing myself to take and not waste time and not waste time on looking at my shots afterwards. Yeah, I kind of like that feeling. It's a bit contradictory, but I like not knowing what I'm getting. That's a surprise. And I have had bad surprises in the past, like many of them. Uh, where at the end of the world, I find out that actually I just put in the film very badly, and it wasn't it was just not rolling. 

00:34:28:03 - 00:35:00:11

But you just learn from mistakes. And then I use a medium format camera as well for landscapes and portraits as well sometimes. And in that camera, I love the quality it gives because a medium format camera. So it means it's a bigger size, so more pixels and other terms and the quality is just perfect. And again, that medium camera, that medium format camera is what we call a belly camera. So you're looking from the top, uh, because the glass is just from the top and you're just not facing your subject. 

00:35:00:18 - 00:35:31:03

So I think kind of helps when you're doing portraits not to have that like direct look. So it's not very intimidating to who whomever you're shooting. Uh, that's like the kind of camera that was using Vivian Meyer, for example, for her street photography. And this is why in some of the shots, you realize that people are looking at her and not at the camera because the focus is on the face and not the camera. You have some other points I should sometimes as well, like the pocket cameras that are great as well. 

00:35:31:11 - 00:36:00:19

But then for work, I've been a Nikon user. I'm not going to say or play the game of Nikon is better than Sony, than canon than, uh, Fuji. They are all great, and I've only been working with it because after all these years, I have these lenses now, and I just don't feel like changing and investing more money into another kind of gear. As long as this camera is giving me what I want for like my work, for my clients, that's all that matters to me. 

00:36:00:28 - 00:36:34:10

I mean, they're all awesome. And I think that, yeah, people gravitate to one or another because there's like a specific nuance that they are attracted to. Like, I used to shoot canon when I had no idea what I was doing. And then now when I have no idea what I'm doing, I use Sony. But I like Sony because I'm kind of like a tech geek, and I love, like, they're really forward thinking on technology. And so I like that. I love how they look at that kind of stuff. And also I do video too, and I've got the Sony A7, R5 now, and I can flip back video photo really quickly. 

00:36:35:02 - 00:36:37:17

And like that makes things really easy for me. 

00:36:38:09 - 00:36:58:03

I mean, when I, whenever people ask me what camera to buy, uh, I think the most important question you want to ask yourself is, why are you buying? I mean, what do you want to do with your photography? Uh, I like to say if you need to shoot video. Yeah, Sony is great for that. Uh, they have really advanced features and their economy is cool, and. 

00:36:59:18 - 00:37:32:15

Yeah, it's really important to ask yourself that question. And then mostly at the end, it's more about the lens than the camera itself as well, because the lens is just going to shift how you see things. The perspective is very important how wide you are, how close you are. Uh, if you're going to be more into like, wildlife, you definitely need a long lens. Um, I'm going to tell you, get yourself a 20 millimeter or 10 to 16, completely useless. Or else if you want portraits again. Yeah, you want those beautiful portrait lens that offer, like, such an amazing aperture and depth of field. 

00:37:32:23 - 00:37:37:10

Um, so yeah, it's not about the brand. It's about what you want to shoot. 

00:37:38:06 - 00:37:51:26

All right. Question number three. This is the Whopper. On a scale of 1 to 10, how frequently do you get that burning itch to just go out there and shoot photos? 

00:37:53:27 - 00:37:55:13

And could I be honest? 

00:37:56:05 - 00:38:01:04

Honesty is important here. This is like honesty that that goes a long way here. 

00:38:01:19 - 00:38:03:12

I feel like I'm talking to my therapist now. 

00:38:03:28 - 00:38:15:09

For your own sanity, don't talk to me like I'm your therapist because you'll come out worse. I cannot help you. I can barely help myself. So the last thing I should be worried about is trying to help someone else. 

00:38:16:15 - 00:38:49:15

Uh, look, I think throughout the years I have been more focused on developing my artistic practice. Uh, so by that, I mean my vision of what kind or how I describe my practice has been evolving. So I was really like a photographer at first, but now I feel that I am. It's been, I think, maybe four years that I am moving also into like more of like the multimedia world, which that includes, uh, video. 

00:38:49:17 - 00:39:21:03

It includes, uh friends. It includes what we call in French, like, uh, black plastic. Uh, I don't know how to translate that, but basically I'm more interested into creating objects rather than with my photography, rather than just the print that you would stick on a wall. And I think that has led me to take less picture. So yeah, I don't think I'm shooting as much as I used to in the past at all. Say like five years ago, I always used to go out with my camera on me. 

00:39:21:14 - 00:39:22:12

I don't anymore. 

00:39:23:20 - 00:39:30:02

So is that like a five maybe or a four? It sounds like it may even be a four on a scale of 1 to 10. 

00:39:31:03 - 00:39:34:14

Let's go with both. Yeah. I'm happy to admit that. 

00:39:34:24 - 00:39:36:16

Okay. It's okay, I always wonder. 

00:39:36:18 - 00:40:16:11

Something is not always about taking photos. At some point, like in the I had phases. Or sometimes I even suggest that to people go out without a camera, but go out and tell yourself that you are gonna look around. Observe in order to study life, to study composition, to study life. And I think that helps you to kind of construct frames and images in your hand and train your eyes so that this helps you in the future when you're there with your camera to really act quick, especially when it comes to street photography, you always have to be anticipating and just be quick. 

00:40:16:13 - 00:40:17:21

Take your shot. Move on. 

00:40:18:17 - 00:40:25:10

I remember you told me. Take your shot and move on. Because this way, if there are people looking at you, you could just be gone. 

00:40:25:16 - 00:40:33:09

Yeah. I mean, you want to have the least impact on your subject if you really want to go for that candid moment. 

00:40:33:15 - 00:40:53:20

I think that's good advice. For those of you that are listening that want to find Clara's Instagram, which I recommend, it is cool. By the way, you have these videos where they pan across your photos. Some of these have your voice reading a text, and I read on your website that those are things that you've heard people say on the street. 

00:40:54:12 - 00:41:19:00

That is something I overheard during my walk. So now I like. I have a list of random sentences I have heard on the street that then later on I just look through my shots and see like if it can create a nice context or if it goes along with the image. It's again, it's just being inspired by like random banal life and the banality of it. 

00:41:19:06 - 00:41:23:07

It's beautiful stuff. So tell everyone what your Instagram is. 

00:41:23:23 - 00:41:48:01

My Instagram handle that has all these tweet stories is Flora de la Rue, which translates to Clara on the streets. And then I have like my main account, I'm going to call that that will have fashion photography, my personal photography project also, but also the fine art prints such as like cyanotype prints. So it's Clara. Adina. 

00:41:48:26 - 00:42:08:23

Okay. And so ClaradanslaRue is Clara dans la rue for us English speakers who need a little help, myself included. And that’s C l a r a d a n s l a r u e. And then your other account. 

00:42:09:06 - 00:42:10:06

Claraabinader. 

00:42:10:13 - 00:42:26:11

And that's C l a r a a b i n a d e r. And if people want to find you to book a tour a photowalk in Paris, where should they go? 

00:42:26:24 - 00:42:28:29

So I have a link on TripAdvisor. 

00:42:29:07 - 00:43:00:18

Okay. If you are listening to this and you're going to Paris this summer for the Olympics, or you're just going to Paris, you're listening to this in the year 2097 and somehow this podcast endured. Look up Clara, C l a r a a b i n a d e r. Google Clara and you'll see. You can book tours with her online TripAdvisor different websites. Do it. I'm telling you, it was great. I just say that personally because I really felt like I enjoyed my time. I saw parts of Paris that I wouldn't see normally and I learned a little bit too. 

00:43:00:20 - 00:43:11:19

And so for that, I thank you. I thank you for being here and happy one week anniversary since our photowalk in Paris. Yay! Really thank you so much, Clara. 

00:43:12:01 - 00:43:13:07

Thank you so much, Ken. 

00:43:14:08 - 00:43:28:29

Thank you so much for joining me for today's episode. Our next show will feature more valuable stories from our community members. If you'd like to audition to be a guest, please visit BigPhotohunt.com for more information. Thanks again for listening today.