Photographer brilliantly captures how Paris has changed since World War II
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A Paris-based photographer has paid tribute to one of the most iconic cities in the world, by bringing together scenes from 1940s Paris alongside pictures of how the city looks today.
Julien Knez uses black and white pictures taken during the city’s occupation and liberation from Nazi control to illustrate just how much the French capital has changed over the course of the past century.
In front of the Eiffel Tower, tourists mill around the bottom of the structure, while in 1940 - the year German forces took over the city - rowdy troops drive under the the bottom of the monument.
Another striking composite includes president Charles de Gaulle marching down the Champ Elysees, with the Arc De Triomphe in the background, after the Liberation of Paris.
Knez says he put the collection together last year to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the city’s liberation from Nazi control in August 1944
Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: “It takes me about ten minutes to shoot each photo, and about one hour to Photoshop each image.”
Although,” he says, “the weather, the light, the traffic and the roadworks in traffic made it difficult for me to get the perfect shot”
Knez says he would now like shoot a similar collection for London, Edinburgh and New York. “There are lots of places to do”, he says.
Paris, fenêtres sur l'histoire: De la Commune à mai 68 by Julien Knez is out now.
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