Once upon a time there were Bouquinistes
This project came about by chance after reading an article about second-hand Parisian booksellers on a tourist culture website.
The article denounced the risk of disappearance of these famous vendors on the banks of the Seine, wondering what Paris would be without one of the most characteristic symbols of the city’s history. For this project, I used old photographs taken in Paris in 2017, when I participated in a group exhibition as part of the Paris Photo Off Circuit.
In constructing this Portfolio, I therefore imagined a new Parisian reality without its Bouquinistes that disappeared more than half a century ago, where each visitor from the past inherited a memory preserved in those old prints/engravings/watercolours/photographs, purchased during a stay in Paris.
Sheets of paper where the veil of time has scratched the brilliance of the colours turned into stains that will slowly erode the memory of the Bouquinistes forever…
In any case, thank you for your kind attention, and cordial greetings.
