Shakespeare & Co

There exists in Paris France a place of refuge, an oasis of great self indulgence, where silence and reading are cordially approved of, and where blaring headphones are glared at with differing levels of scorn depending on the ‘looking’ member of staff. There are no visible signs suggesting silence nor the prohibition of headphones, in fact it’s quite normal to discuss the objects of mutual interest albeit in respectfully hushed tones.

http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

What has this place got to do with photography? Well that’s a good question and this store is a good subject for any photographer. Be they landscape, portrait or macro photographers, subject matter abounds in this Parisian jewel next to the seine. The staff are all English speakers and always welcoming although often busy with their daily duties. That can include shaking out their sheets and mattresses, and having the place ready for the less literate of Paris society. That’s not say that Paris residents are in any way challenged in the ways of literature!

This store has been open everyday since 1951. It has been home to many writers in transit, Shakespeare & Co will offer shelter to the writer in need who has a script to show proof he/she is a bone fide writer.

So on entering the wooden framed door and passing through the heavy curtains that make a poor attempt at keeping the bone chilling cold at bay, you are met by the smiling face of an Irish girl, a Wexford lass at that. Well at least that has been my pleasure the last dozen times or so I’ve had the pleasure to pass through the heavy curtained entrance of Shakespeare & Co.

http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

The London based writer Erica Wagner describes Shakespeare & Co so much more poetically than I ever could in her editorial for the festival she said, “Like so many people- readers, writers, book lovers of every shape, size, stripe - I first walked into this bookstore after a fine dinner somewhere… light glittered on the slick black surface of the Seine, and we could have climbed onto a bateau mouche – but we dived into Shakespeare & Co instead. Sometimes I feel, even when I am far away, that I’ve never left. It’s that kind of place. It stays in your blood, in your heart, and reminds you why you love to read.”

I concur!

Back to photography, I do forget sometimes where I am and what I’m supposed to be writing about, my mind has always wandered, it’s not old age, or perhaps now it’s a mélange of the two??

Now photography before I forget again!

Here in Shakespeare & Co you can find endless inspiration to while away the hours and the cold. The differing light calls for either a custom white balance using a grey card or what I really recommend is shooting in RAW while using the grey card or expo disk to avoid hours in front of a computer correcting the colour casts on all your photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTcItRP9iGA

The above link is a short amateur video on how to use the expodisk.

My sites : http://see2bephotography.com/portfolio.php?L=fr

www.kevinhayden.book.fr