The ladies of the Penthouse and I watched the movie 2 days in Paris the other day, and we really enjoyed it. At first I was hesitant, the cover looked a bit too colorful, and the reviews a little too forced, but we were looking for a comedy because The Diving Bell and the Butterfly looked a little too- how you say- "heavy", for a night after a full day of work.
The female lead, Marion, is a photographer and one of the cameras she uses is a polaroid. I'm newly obsessed with taking polaroid pictures (check out this project everyday polaroid) after a. Frankenhoodie gave me my own polaroid and b. I found a Polaroid Land Camera. -brief side note on my land camera. . . I found it in the famous St. Ouen Marché des Puces after mentioning that morning that I really wanted another polaroid (vintage, because I'm lame) and just after going through the market we came upon it at the last stand for a mere 15 euros (I haggled the man down - of course - in FRENCH!) From then on I went to purchase the ridiculously expensive film (that makes me feel badass because I have to go buy it at the professional polaroid store) and reworked the battery. Now the only things that are stopping me from taking amazingly cute photos are grey days and the flash kit that I need to buy. I digress.
-But anyways back to the point. The argument between the couple is that the boyfriend Jack is not the photographer, but is always taking photos as a way to escape from the moment. Marion notes that if you are behind a camera how can you really see what is happening, you are taking a analytical look at a natural moment. So what brought this on was the fact that I just uploaded a bunch of photos and I can't help but remark during some of the best times I've had, come the smallest amount of photos.
When you're in the moment everything is so gloriously wonderful that is doesn't matter if you aren't capturing it with lenses and a memory card, because you don't need to. The moment you step behind the camera you leave. You leave as you need to steady your hand, check the flash, and get everyone together, but you loose what was really happening and are left with only shadows of what was.
At this point, I have nearly 2,000 photos on flickr and I wouldn't trade them for anything - because let's be honest, sometimes you need a shadow to give your memory lines to color within.
Read this really great interview with Julie Delphy about the film.
