Paris

Over the course of three decades, former Magnum photographer William Albert Allard has been returning to Paris and embodying the idea of the flâneur, the idle yet keen wandering observer. Paris is the stunning culmination of Allard walking through the City of Light in search of nothing and everything, those gloriously unexpected scenes that unknowingly carry the weight of the world, if only for a moment. 

Visit backstage at music events and fashion shows, admire the cavernous rooms of fine museums, stroll the meandering streets of the city’s neighborhoods, walk along the Seine, and spot lounging sunbathers, café patrons, and laborers with this masterful portraitist. Allard brings his personal voice and wonderful talent to this legendary city, revealing Paris in a personal, intimate way through the lens of his camera. Vibrant with color and rich with the details of human nature, this long out-of-print collection is now available again so viewers can marvel at both the work of a master photographer and the myriad poses struck by one of the world’s greatest cities. 

“To walk in Paris is to stroll through a never-ending series of one-act plays with ever changing, often beautiful, sets, populated by sometimes equally attractive characters on display.”—William Albert Allard

Starting in 1964, Allard contributed to National Geographic magazine for 50 years, longer than any other single contributor. A pioneer of color documentary photography and a superb portraitist, Allard was credited early in his career with changing the look of National Geographic through his intimate work on the American subcultures of the Amish of Pennsylvania and the Hutterites of Montana. Allard has previously published six critically acclaimed books. His first, Vanishing Breed, photographs and writing about the American cowboy, published in 1981, was nominated for The American Book Award. Paris is the winner of the 5th edition of the Federation of European Professional Photographers (FEP) Book Prize Award.