Chapter
II
Paris, France · October 2023
Claire & Henri
The Story · Private apartment, Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Claire and Henri had decided months earlier that they didn't want guests — they wanted a day together, in Paris, photographed honestly.
We started at 6 a.m. with Claire dressing alone in their friend's apartment. The light through the tall French windows did all the work; I shot most of the morning in available light with a 50mm wide open.
They walked, without telling anyone, to the small Mairie of the 6th arrondissement and signed the papers in front of two witnesses.
They walked, without telling anyone, to the small Mairie of the 6th arrondissement and signed the papers in front of two witnesses. Then a long lunch at Bistrot des Augustins, sunlight, oysters, and a slow second carafe.
The portraits happened after — in the cobbled side streets behind Saint-Sulpice, in a courtyard I'd scouted the day before, and finally at the bar at Hôtel Costes long after dark. It's the kind of day that's not really about the photography. It's about being there.
Visual diary
As I saw it.
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Paris, France
Always the place, always the light.
About Paris
Planning a wedding here?
A few practical answers for anyone considering this destination.
Legal civil elopements at a Paris Mairie require residency. Many couples sign legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Paris — that's what most of my elopement clients do.