Nairn’s Paris
Illustrated with the author’s black-and-white snaps of the city, Nairn’s Paris, first published in 1968, shows Ian Nairn’s eye for detail—whether it is stonework on an archway, shadows cast by a railing, or an empty chair in a park. 50 years later, this celebration of the City of Light still captures a place on the cusp of great changes and provides a glimpse of a city that is about to disappear. Here is an idiosyncratic and unpretentious portrait of the “collective masterpiece” that is Paris.
As Nairn writes: “About one-third of the book is discovery, in the sense that I came upon the sites by accident or by following a topographical hunch. There must be many more, and all you need for the search is the ability to turn off the main road, switch on your antennae, and respond. Good luck.”
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