Captured over the past two decades during skateboarding trips to Paris, Ed Templeton’s new photo book is a tribute to the city’s vibrant street life
There isn't much to say about the City of Light that hasn’t been said before. TS Eliot said the “chief danger about Paris is that it is such a strong stimulant” and it’s true; overflowing with tourist attractions, art, culture and even its own syndrome, Paris for the last century has been a cultural hub for the ages. Since the early 90s, photographer Ed Templeton has visited the city almost annually on skateboarding tours and as a tourist with his wife and fellow photographer, Deanna Templeton. Recently, Templeton has compiled 69 black and white images that were shot on visits to the city between 2001 and 2023 in his latest book, City Confessions #3 Paris. With street photographs capturing strong stimulus alongside quiet moments, portraits, observations and larger details of the city, these are the things that captivate Templeton.
The book is the third instalment in the City Confessions series, which highlights Templeton’s signature observational style while creating a physical ode to the streets of cities that he has frequently travelled to over the years. As City Confessions #3 Paris is released, Ed Templeton sits down with AnOther to discuss the series and his relationship with the French capital.
“Yasunori Hoki, who owns Super Labo, came to me about doing a series of books that would eventually be presented together in a slipcase and offered as a set. After some thought, I came up with the idea to do City Confessions, inspired by one of my favourite photographers, Anders Petersen’s series, City Diary.”
“Through skateboarding tours, I’ve spent so much time in different cities over the past three and a half decades – Barcelona, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles – and I’ve compiled quite a large archive of images from them. These books are deep dives into those archives. I researched a lot about people’s books on a city and they’ll usually say something like, ‘I spent two weeks in this city, and I made this book out of it’. It seems so short, you know. I’ve been going to Paris almost every year since 1990, and the work in the book spans from 2001 to 2023.
“I had enough photos from Paris to focus on narrower themes, but in the end, I decided to choose my favourite photos of the city and pair them. I wanted to pair the images together in a way that is poetic. Deciding on what photos resonate with each other, photos of Paris that highlight the people, human nature and the streets; what street photography is about in general.
“I love Paris. The city itself is so vibrant, there is always something going on. It is an incredible city to shoot in. There have been so many incredible photographers who have shot the city. At the end of the book I write, ‘The ghosts of Atget, Cartier-Bresson, Kertész, Lartigue, Riboud, Doisneau and Brassaï follow me around the boulevards taunting me from the shadows for attempting to shoot the very clichés they invented, and that I adore.’ That inspiration is always there; Deanna and I call night shooting “Brassaï’ing” because of the photographs of Brassaï. Nobody has captured the nightlife of Paris better.
“The City Confessions series is a lot of fun, there is so much freedom to take risks and not think about it too much. It is ultimately about photography; these books are to share the photographs that I have made over the years. It is what we enjoy doing when we are on a trip.
“Deanna and I go to a city and instead of going to tourist spots, we walk around all day, purposefully not taking the subway or taxis, just to walk 50 miles while shooting. I feel super lucky that I’m in a position where I have an outlet to share this work in this way, to make a book and leave it to the public record, not just put it on Instagram. It is a really beautiful feeling. I want to share my work that I am serious about making and hopefully photo fans who enjoy looking at photos see this work, how it has been strung together and get a kick out of it like how I do with all the other books I buy.”
City Confessions #3: Paris by Ed Templeton is published by Super Labo, and is out now.
