I hit a lot of tourist spots in my four days in Paris, but there was one quirky spot I missed that the travel agents never told me, probably because they didn’t know anything about this unique option.
And that is taking a boat trip through Paris at night and contemplating the impressive beauty of the 35 bridges that cross the Seine. However, I was able to see the bridges of Paris at night wonderfully at home when I purchased and flipped through the pages of “The glow of Paris: The bridges of Paris at night” by Gary Zuercher.
After accidentally dodging a shot, Zuercher discovered the beauty of the flow of lights on the bridges against the dark backdrop of Paris at night. After this discovery, he spent the next five years photographing the 35 bridges of Paris, from midnight to 2 or 3 in the morning, when there was little traffic and few pedestrians to interfere with his work. The results are absolutely amazing.
But Zuercher went even further by researching the history of the bridges and offering a fascinating account of each bridge, some of which were crossed by Julius Caesar. I learned that they used to build houses and shops on the bridges in the Middle Ages. Another bridge used to host a festival with acrobats, fire-eaters and musicians, even tooth pullers. Another bridge had a currency exchange booth at one end. And another was hit by a fighter jet, killing four French Air Force pilots. Absolutely fascinating stuff.
Over a period of five years, Zuercher took his cameras out into the Parisian night to capture stunningly evocative images of the bridges spanning the Seine. Using his artistic eye and his sophisticated photographic technique, he created these glorious black and white photographs, rich in detail and with a bright, clear quality.
No one else has photographed all the bridges that span the Seine in Paris in this way. We do not see crowds of people or much traffic. Nothing obscures the beauty and strength of the structures, the romanticism and the symbolism of the bridges. Shooting in black and white allows the details to shine: the architectural elements, the artwork, the nearby buildings, the trees on the banks of the river, and the starry lamps that cast paths of light on the water.
He divides his time between his homes in Paris and Washington, DC with his wife Dominique, who is French.
I got the book just to display on my coffee table, but I started reading it and couldn’t put it down. So much information about the bridges and the history of Paris that it is much, much more than a coffee table book. I highly recommend this book, but please do not put it in the living room for display, but rather read it and enjoy every page!
