Black and white prints of Paris for an office.

Paris is a photographer’s paradise, and I truly believe it’s a black and white paradise. Over the years I’ve been slowly adding prints of Paris to my black and white collection, and although I don’t return there as often as I used to, the city continually inspires me to create more fine art prints. I’ve been making prints of the Arc de Triomphe for many years, and below is my most recent version. It’s a new limited edition print, and the framed piece shown here is currently hanging in an office in central London.

You can see it here.

I use a medium format camera for almost all of my black and white prints. Many of these images need to be produced at fairly large sizes, so I choose a smooth, fine-grain film. I prefer the tonal contrast and clarity I get from Ilford 100 ISO. Before committing to the final print I make several test prints to check exposure, contrast and paper choice. Quite a lot of work goes into making each print; they are all limited edition, and very few photographers I know still shoot on film and make their prints by hand.

You can read about my process here on one of my previous blogs.

Paris is especially well suited to black and white photography because of the subtlety found in many of the city’s scenes. New York thrives on bold, in-your-face colour, while London really excels with sweeping panoramics. Paris, however, continually seems to favour monochrome—the light in the print above translates beautifully into black and white, bringing out texture, mood and quiet detail.

You can see this print here.

Below the bridges and the detail on the Paris bridges can make great sets of prints. The framed print below is hanging in a Manchester office which has a branch in Paris. There are a number of Paris prints hanging in this office, all part of a set of Paris bridges.