Back from Paris

Happy to be home once again after a few weeks on the road. I am faced with the daunting but immensely pleasurable task of editing and working all the images I brought back – far more than I expected. I found that, even on cold and overcast days, Paris is magical. And the opportunities for an exploring photographer are endless. I’ll have much to show and write about in future posts. For now, I’d just like to share some random images that jumped out at me in early editing.

But first, a word about what (and who) ultimately brought this whole trip about. I was chosen as a finalist in an international competition, the Grand Prix de Découverte: International Fine-Art Photography Award. This competition was masterfully produced by Ms Meredith Mullins, and underwritten by the de Groot Foundation. Since this was the inauguration of the program, with no track record I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But as the date approached and I saw some of the work chosen I knew that this was a serious entry into the field of photo competitions. The events scheduled for us were all terrific. The conversations were stimulating. And the international camaraderie was delightful.

No surprise, then, that our hosts, Charles and Clydette de Groot, were as thoughtful and gracious as anyone could ever hope for. Their foundation’s projects are imbued with good intention and exceptional decency and they should be applauded for their magnanimity. It was an honor and a pleasure to spend time with them. After all, had they not supported this program I would not have gone to Paris. And none of today’s images would have ever been made. So thanks for that too, Charles and Clydette!

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Place des Vosges

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Eiffel Tower

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For some reason stairs caught my attention wherever I went.

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The tight spiral staircases of Notre Dame couldn’t deter me from these classic views.

I huffed and puffed my way to the very top (all 400 or so steps), proud of my accomplishment, only to look out at the worker climbing the spire much further up than me. Ah, perspective!

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The dome atop the Pantheon…

… and its lowest level crypts.

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A few more brief glances from around the city:

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One last note to photographers – look into next year’s show. The jury will be top notch as will be everything else surrounding it!

Thank you as always for visiting. More images at www.artmurphy.com

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