France on Film: La Fontaine de Mars
Here’s a throwback to last summer, during my trip to Paris and Brittany. During the Paris part of the trip, I was using my vintage Nikon FG, a 35mm film camera I had purchased at a thrift store back in Indiana. I found that I really enjoyed shooting photos of cafes with the film camera. The film seems to present a certain feel that you don’t get with the digital camera.
La Fontaine de Mars is a French bistro not far from the Eiffel Tower. I had been out fairly early shooting photos of the Eiffel tower from one of my favorite locations, near the corner of Rue Saint-Dominique and Bouevard de la Tour-Marbourg. From there, you can get a nice view of the Eiffel tower with the Parisian buildings around it. As I finished there, I walked along Rue Saint-Dominique and came to the La Fontaine de Mars, which was just getting ready for the day.
I love the look and feel of this Bistro — the checked table cloths, striped awnings, impressive wood facade, etc. Normally I photograph facades like this head on, but I rather liked this angle, which also works well in a portrait orientation. Many of my favorite photos from this Paris trip were of cafes and cafe details like chairs. I’ll be returning to Paris in June 2024, and hope to concentrate on taking more cafe photos.
