Strange Goings Around a Carousel - Etrange manège le soir du réveillon de Noël - 130 Street Photographies after the Paris Attacks {Paris Street Photo}
Strange Goings Around a Carousel - Etrange manège le soir du réveillon de Noël - 26/130 © 2015 CHANT WAGNER
130 Street Photographies after the Paris Attacks - 130 photographies de rue, après les attentats de Paris - In Memoriam
This photo of the Place St Sulpice in Paris around 8 pm on the eve of Christmas is a testament in my eye to the new and sometimes strange atmosphere which reigns in Paris...
What caught my eye was the sheer fact that a carousel was still operating at dinner time on the eve of Christmas. It shone and looked empty at first but closer examination revealed there were two children supervised by an adult. Next to the beaming carousel there were men at work. One of them is a military man in fatigues patrolling the place.
Everything is weird in this picture - even the fact that the military man appears to be alone instead of in a tight group of three.
On an other level, it is my personal point of view which lends strangeness to the composition.
This was taken while on our way to a family reunion for Christmas. I didn't have time to stop, but I thought that the scene contained some of the elements of the atmosphere of the new Paris since November 13.
Is it meant to signal that indeed, "Paris est une fête", the French title for Hemingway's Moveable Feast, which is breaking sales records these days - 28 000 books sold per weeks, we're told?
This photo is part of a series capturing the atmosphere of Paris after 11/13 in 130 pictures, one each day for each of the 130 Paris Attack victims.
Previously:
The New In Colors - Le tricolore revient en vogue - 25/130
Drawing Resilience with Tealights - Dessiner la résilience avec des bougies - 24/130
Fascination - 23/130
Everything Happened, Nothing Happened - Tout est arrivé, rien n'est arrivé - 22/130
Patriotic Street Art - Un art des rues patriotique - 21/130
Keeping Emergency Services in a Central Paris Hospital - Maintien des urgences à l'Hôtel-Dieu - 20/130
Semiotics of Insult - La sémiotique de l'insulte - 19/130
Hacking It - Le système D - 18/130
Habit Rouge Impression - Une Impression d'Habit Rouge - 17/130
Recueillement - Meditation - 16/130
Saving Memorial Art from the Rain - Sauver un art de la mémoire de la pluie - 15/130
A Month Later - Un mois plus tard - 14/130
December 13, 2015 - Le 13 décembre 2015 - 13/130
Quentin Mourier, 29 ans - Quentin Mourier - 29 years old - 12/130
I Love You - M - Je t'aime, M - 11/130
Game Over: Culture Shock - Fin de partie : le choc culturel - 10/130
The Blood of the Republic was Shed - Le sang de la République a été versé - 9/130
Under Shock - Sous Le Choc - 8/130
Bullet Holes at the Laundromat - Impacts de balles au Lavratonic - 7/130
A La Bonne Bière Reopens: Shades of Emotions - Une Palette d'Emotions - 6/130
Peaceful Day at République - Jour Paisible à République - 5/130
Woman with a Tricolor Turban - La femme au turban tricolore - 2/130
