The Place du Palais Royal, with its famous striped columns by artist Daniel Buren, is a must-see spot for Parisian street photography.
Composing with truncated column alignments and playing with perspective is a real pleasure for any photographer, which is amplified even more when the human factor comes into play.
On this morning in June 2020, the French Cancan made an appearance, along with a few amazed tourists, in the courtyard of the former Cardinal’s palace.
It was an opportunity to pay tribute to this 100% Parisian dance of emancipation, while seeking out some amusing or offbeat interactions, which are the spice of street photography.
The beautiful and rebellious dancers of the French Cancan
In an urban setting, dance always has something magical about it, long conveyed in cinema by musicals (or by more sophisticated dance films, such as Wim Wenders’ Pina).
Starting from classical dance positions, French Cancan dancers burst with energy before adding more acrobatic moves.
The alluring undergarments of dancers
The French Cancan is a dance invented to mock aristocratic dance, with dancers willing to expose themselves in all kinds of positions.
When a popular cabaret dance returns to the streets, it turns the Place du Palais Royal upside down, with skirts and petticoats flying everywhere.
A stone’s throw from the famous Moulin Rouge cabaret, the French Cancan returns to one of its original neighborhoods.
Vertical split: a gossip on her pedestal, ready to take her place in a colonnade?
A moment of genuine joy and infectious good humor shared by the dancers from Monika Knap’s dance school, LE FRENCH CANCAN.
A humorous or artistic selection
Legs up in the air
When lifting your leg becomes a contagious activity.
My favorite
One of my favorite images from this session is also one of my first numbered art prints of a street photo (still available).
Liberty, Audacity
It was obvious that an image from this street photography session in Paris was the perfect illustration for this article.
Below is the version available as a numbered art print in its original frame.
Lifting her dress in the street inevitably attracts attention—as seen here, from a masked* passerby.
An unusual, feminine image of a dance without taboos… which parodies, in an urban setting, the exhibitionism that is usually more masculine!
*Masked woman and offbeat symbolism: see also “fishing for girls.”
French columns in the spotlight
With the French Cancan dancers gone, the courtyard of the Palais Royal had other picturesque moments in store for me that day, including the following:
Babyveroo
Express delivery of baby in Paris.
Rodin’s Thinker
Fake alert: the real Rodin’s thinker can be seen in the garden of the Rodin Museum in Paris.
Photographs and texts: Thierry Allard, all rights reserved.
External links to this article are welcome, but please respect copyright and do not use text extracts or images without first requesting permission.
S T R E E T P H O T O P A R I S
