Travel photographer’s must go locations in Paris and London
London and Paris are a dream twin location for photographers. Here are a few places to visit in this historical cities: Shakespeare & Company : This legendary bookshop on the Left Bank is a Paris institution. It sells new, second-hand and antiquarian books, and champions writers, artists and thinkers – there are beds where they sometimes sleep amid the rows of printed words. James Joyce considered the original bookshop his office. Insider tip: Spring is the best time to capture it, when the cherry trees bloom outside. Come early, before it opens and the tourists rock up; then later buy your book and take it to the new coffee shop next door.
The Tower of London is where the Crown Jewels are housed, and they’re quite spectacular. It’s also where you can stand on the execution site of three English queens! The Tower of London was home to the kings and queens of England for many years. (Buckingham Palace has been the official London residence of Britain’s sovereign since 1837.) The Tower of London was a prison and many famous prisoners were held there, including Sir Walter Ralegh: he was held in the Bloody Tower for 13 years, but made use of his time by writing The History of the World (published in 1614) and growing tobacco on Tower Green. The Tower of London held prisoners from the middle and upper classes, so there are no dungeons.
There is a saying that goes thus, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. The same goes for the National Gallery. The gallery is in Trafalgar Square and is one of the unique popular attractions where art is at its finest. Collections in the gallery are from famous artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Johannes Vermeer, Claude Monet, and Michelangelo. The gallery often has visiting exhibitions of other famous artists. This gallery is very educational with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Cost: Entry to the National Gallery is free.
The most visited tourist attraction in Paris, the Eiffel Tower also ranks high on the list of places to visit in France. It’s hard to believe that the structure was dismissed as a monstrosity when it was first unveiled. The iconic tower was designed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel for the Paris Exhibition of 1889, which marked the centenary of the French Revolution. The tower consists of 18,000 sturdy iron sections (weighing over 10,000 tons) held together by 2.5 million rivets. This innovative structure is now considered a masterful architectural feat and is the most emblematic sight in Paris. From the Jardins du Trocadero and the lawns of the Champs de Mars, there is just the right distance from the Eiffel Tower for a picture-perfect photo-op. Reaching 324 meters in height, the tower was the world’s tallest building until the Empire State Building was erected.
Photographer Victor Guidini, who lives in London, has been photographing tourists in the capital of England since 2013. In recent years he has been doing photo shoots in France. “It all started when a customer who had done an essay in London asked if I would be available to shoot in Paris. At first I thought it would be difficult to be a profitable business, but I organized all the logistics that facilitated the rehearsals. Traveling by the Eurostar trains, I get to Paris in around 2 hours, and without all the waiting and paperwork that a travel area has. After considering the risks and investments required for this journey, I embraced the opportunity, “says the photographer. See more at Fotografo em Paris e Londres.. In addition to offering photographic essays in Paris, Victor Guidini is also available to photograph in London across Europe. To know more about his work, just visit his website www.victorguidini.com/pt-br/ (in Portuguese).