'The
Glow of Paris- The Bridges of Paris at Night' author says "It's
about time."
Paris,
France (June 1, 2015) -- Napoleon's final battle is in its final
throes and it looks like it will be a victory. The love locks on
Paris's Pont des Arts Bridge, which Napoleon commissioned in 1807
will be removed from bridge beginning next week.
"It's
about time," says Paris Bridge Photographer Gary Zuercher, "The
problems of the locks has become an urban nuisance and they are
defacing some of the most beautiful architecture in the world."
How long would we as American tolerate thousands of 'love locks' on
our national monuments, say at the Golden Gate Bridge or at
Gettysburg? Not long."
Love
Locks are padlocks that 'lovers' attach to bridges, then the key is
tossed into the Seine River to embody their affection. Now Paris fed
up and will remove the locks.
Zuercher
spent five years photographing the bridges of Paris at night and
another year in historical research for his book.
The
Glow of Paris: The Bridges of Paris at Night is an eclectic
collection of extraordinary gelatin-silver photographic prints of the
35 bridges of Paris - nighttime images that are breathtaking. (ISBN
978-0-9906309-0-6, Marcorp Editions, 2014, 208 pages, $49.95
available on Amazon
and at: http://www.marcorp-editions.com).
The
London Book Festival and The Los Angeles Book Festival recently
proclaimed his book The Glow of Paris- The Bridges of Paris at
Night one of the best books in the photography/art category
in the 2015 competitions. Last week in NYC, the Independent
Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) bestowed a Gold Medal First
Place award.
These
awards come on the heels of the accolades by Kirkus Reviews
who called The Glow of Paris one of "Nine Best
Books Out This Week." (Jan 20) and named it "This Week's
Book to Discover." (May 14) Kirkus further stated:
"A
superb pictorial evocation of the City of Light, full of dazzling
images and intriguing lore." - Kirkus Reviews
"For
the most part Parisians take these architectural wonders for granted,
relying on their functionality to get them where they want to go each
day," says author Zuercher. "They don't appreciate the
beauty because most don't see the glow of the bridges at night. And
most have forgotten that from Julius Caesar to Princess Diana, the
bridges of Paris have played in important role in world history."
The
fascinating narrative that accompanies the artistic black and white
photos includes historical facts and little known tidbits about the
bridge, such as:
• The
history of these bridges precede the birth of Christ. In 52 BC Julius
Caesar conquered Paris; the earliest recorded mention of the bridges
is found in Caesar's Gallic War commentaries. Most of the later
history evolves from around the time of the Middle Ages and
thereafter.
• On
the morning of October 3, 1943, an aircraft hit the Pont de Tolbiac
Bridge and crashed into the Seine, killing the four Frenchmen on
board. The four were members of the Free French Air Force who had
flown from an airfield in England to participate in the allied
bombing of a power station outside of Paris.
• Bridges
constructed prior to the late eighteenth century normally had houses
and shops built directly on them. Floods, ice floes, fires, boat
collisions, and structural failures frequently destroyed the bridges.
The collapsing bridges took the houses and shops down with them, and
often their occupants as well. In 1769 Louis XV finally outlawed the
construction of houses on the bridges, but it took until 1808 for the
last building to be removed.
• The
Pont des Arts seems to have the densest proliferation of locks,
perhaps because of the French adage that roughly translates as "a
lock on the Pont des Arts is your commitment for life and a lock on
the Pont de l'Archevêché is your commitment to your lover." It
is estimated that more than 250,000 are attached to the Pont des
Arts. According to the newspaper Le Figaro, the weight of the locks
is 300 kilos per lineal meter. That equals 205,207 pounds, a
considerable weight for the bridge to bear. From time to time the
guardrail fence starts to fail under the weight and has to be
replaced, at which point the locks are simply thrown away.
• Early
on, the Pont Neuf was the center of a permanent fair, a meeting point
for all the sophisticated as well as the vulgar pleasures of the
capital. At any moment you would find street performers-acrobats,
fire-eaters, and musicians- charlatans and quacks, as well as
hustlers and pickpockets, not to mention a lively trade in
prostitution. Among the many businesses were several famous "tooth
pullers."
"This
information will be of great interest to not only tourists and
historians but also to Parisians who have limited knowledge of the 35
bridges in their city and are surprised at the number of islands in
the Seine," says Zuercher. "There is a great deal of truth
in the words of author Monique Marty who wrote of the bridges - 'They
are the extension of the streets, the hyphens between the two river
banks. We cross them on foot, by car, by Metro. We see them without
looking at them and that's a shame'."
Zuercher,
an artist in the darkroom as well as behind the lens, lives half a
year in Paris and the other half in Washington, D.C. He develops the
film into negatives in Paris and then makes the prints in the D.C.
darkroom. Often he would make 20 to 30 prints before coming up with
just the right photo for his book. The results of his work prove what
was written by Ansel Adams, "The negative is like the score of
the music and the print is like the performance."
The
stories related to the project are rich enough to fill another book,
such as the time he was refused access to a church roof to photograph
an aerial shot because he could not be there while the nuns were
sleeping. Or when he had to use mountain climbing equipment and the
aid of city firefighters to climb to the top of city hall to shoot
seven bridges from the air. Or when young thugs threatened him while
Zuercher was working at night but were defused when he offered to
take their pictures and email it to them.
Limited
Edition: Along with a signed copy of the book, a gelatin silver
photographic print of the "Seven Bridges" featured on the
book's cover, hand made to museum archival standards, will be
available in limited quantity, signed by Gary Zuercher, mounted on
16" x 20" acid free mat board and ready for framing. For
more information visit http://www.marcorp-editions.com.
Media
Contact: For a review copy of The Glow of Paris or
to arrange an interview with Gary Zuercher contact Scott Lorenz of
Westwind Communications Book
Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com
or at 734-667-2090.
