Navyo writes, “Bordeaux shows herself like her wine – rooted in history, mature and nourishing, inviting and distinctly sophisticated, she is a city not to be overlooked. “
Cities are wonderful opportunities for any photographer. In Bordeaux, the first of a series of European cities I have documented in monochrome, those opportunities were many. Mostly, I found it was the light, either early morning or late afternoon, when the sun was low and the shadows long, that the city called me, invited me, even begged me to capture her.
From the heights of Tour Pey-Berland, making the city and her inhabitants seem in miniature, to the simplicity of the delivery bicycle of La Boulangerie, Bordeaux is an experience of scale. After sundown, that scale takes on a new perspective in the drama of the night.
I have been told that Bordeaux is a mini-Paris and I can see why. Cosmopolitan, fashionable, clean, cultural, it has much of what Paris holds without the density of a big city. But it is the moments within that drew me to photograph her. Being present to what is passing, not necessarily looking but allowing her to show herself to me.
This state of presence is the essence of my photography. Being available to the moment, unattached yet connected. A passing cyclist with the sun behind her casting that long shadow. That is not rehearsed, not planned. It can only come from presence and availability. The photographer and subject become one for a split second, that unifying moment captured by the camera.
I hope you, too, find presence in these moments and may one day visit this beautiful city.
Navyo Ericsen, The Art of Mobile Photography on 500px.com
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