ABOUT THE PARIS SERIES:

I arrived in Paris in June with the intention of studying painting. I was presently disabused of this ambition by a painter friend and directly set out on my "career" as a photographer. I got there too late to hang out with Hemingway, Man Ray or Kiki of Montparnasse, but I was there in time for Richard Wright, Valli and Nadia Boulanger.

I lived in the Latin Quarter, of course. I stayed at The Hotel Stella on Rue Monsieur Le Prince, a small hotel on the Place Contrescarpe, and a "chamber de bonne", maids room, in the Carrefour De L'Odeon. I was an habitue at the Cafe Monaco and The Cafe Tournon. Both of these establishments featured ex-patriots of all persuasions, unfortunately for my attempts to learn French, the language most often spoken was English.

I spent my time studying, discussing art, sex, existentialism, communism, cuisine, literature, Freud, Joe Macarthy, and the likes. Once I had discovered that I was a photographer I set out to "shoot" everything around me, mostly my friends and our bohemian activities. We passed a great deal of time drinking, partying, eating, and touring the city. I ate a lot in the student restaurants for about 75 cents a meal, and drank Vin ordinaire for around 30 cents a glass. I used Ilford hps film pushed to 1500 ASA, I had the film developed at the Pierre Gassman lab on Rue DeLa Comete. Every 3 months I had to leave France because of Visa issues, so I would visit and photograph Amsterdam, Switzerland, The Riviera, Italy, Majorca and the Spainish coast before my return to the United States.