Doisneau – Les Halles @ Hotel de Ville – Paris

Doisneau is world-known for his “Le Baiser de l’Hotel de Ville” photo, which despite being a posed photo it captured one of the most passionate kisses in photography. Who hasn’t tried emulating the 1950s photo?

Opening last week the central Parisian city hall (precisely the background scenario of the kiss) is now hosting  “Doisneau / Paris / Les Halles“, a concentrated and highly recommended free exhibition that brings out of the dust many of the series Robert Doisneau took from his early career in the 30s up to the moment the food market closed in 1969.

In the late 60s “Les Halles” was highly impractical for the city itself, situated in the heart of Paris and despite providing the city with much of its food (and flowers) it generated humongous traffic jams and became more of a problem blocking this side of town on a daily basis. So in the late 60s the concept of a wholesale food market was taken out of Paris.

Doisneau had been photographing the evolution of the “guts of Paris” since he took his very first photograph in 1933 and now this exhibition compiles 208 prints, most of them vintage, but with a last colour photography glimpse of his 60s series.

A must (honestly must) visit free exhibition for all those who (like me) never got to know the big hole left by the wholesale food market in the 70s and that then became today’s mall (which is being redesign again btw with a macro ambitious ” Canopée”  project by  Patrick Berger & Jacques Anziutti ). For those unfamiliar with the Parisian character of the 40s & 50s which gave work to over 5000 people every day, and with its busy, noisy and smelly central streets, this is a good way to discover it.

 While the exhibition goes on until late April don’t leave it to the last minute, we’re pretty sure long queues will form just outside the townhall… like today, and waiting for 30min in this freezing winter it’s not something we can approve. More info this way.