Montmartre

If Paris has a Film Noir quality, it originates from this place, Montmartre. It is at the highest point in Paris and mixes the sacred and profane. Below you have the famous sex shops and cabarets and above you have Sacre Coeur. It is dark, rough, human and real. It is 42nd Street before Giuliani and a reminder of human nature. I took these photos of Monmartre early one morning, before the tour buses and before the callers try to get you into the sex clubs. I like the area for it's reality and shamelessness. It does not apologize. I wanted to show the realness of the place, the spirit and in a way, display an outlook that cities of America once had. It is Raymond Chandler and early Larry Clark manifest. It is sex, Hubert Selby, abiguity and the seeking of forgiveness that is all human. It is a new photographic direction for me. Like before, it is the representation of a city I have come to love.