Le Triomphe de la République

Bienvenue à Paris!

I took a quick roundtrip in the evening – essentially free because of my Navigo; potentially deadly because of Covid – to Place de la Nation. I'd never stopped there before. It was dark and it rained. It'll be nice to come back in the summer.

Today's photos is of the statue celebrating overthrowing the throne, on the vast publique square formerly known as Place du Trône. It features lions, here in profile, because they were a big part of the people's victory over the monarchy. I'm ready for my citizenship test.

I've been hesitant to photograph statues because I think it mostly defeats the point of them. My EF 40mm with my crop camera is also not the right kit combination for it: the composition here is nasty. I regret that Marianne's missing her head – especially inappropriate in the context.

Still, it was a decent exercise in urban night scenes. I tried an alternative photo which had the statue in the background and an empty bench in the foreground, but it came off as too cold and empty.