Aux Tresors

What would happen if there were no images of Paris as she was. Paris is changing quickly, too quickly for me. The sights and sounds I have experienced in Paris are my treasures. Each time I return I go out looking for them and each time I feel the loss of yet another image changed by something new. The only comfort I get is once the things that I treasure as old jewels were new baubles. I don't know what my treasures replaced but I can imagine someone, a curmudgeon like me, staring bleakly at the monstrosity that replaced my comfortable old image. Yet here I am, admiring it for its beauty and eventually mourning its passing into history and into my collection of images. It's not just Paris that is changing, the entire world is. This image of Aux Tresors was not easy to capture. The streets are very busy near Place des Vosges, the sidewalk I was standing on was narrow and the passing cars were close. I was waiting for the moment, for something to happen, and it was not a short wait. Everything finally stood still for a moment, you see it here. Motion starting, motion stopping, and the eternal stillness of stone. Aux Tresors is now gone. Replaced by a fancy boutique whose display changes so often I don't even know what they sell. In the 20 years I knew Aux Tresors not so much as one bottle had changed in the display window. Our world is changed as much by images as it was by the invention of the printing press. We scan, we give the image 3 seconds, and before it even registers the next image is in front of us. Standing still and contemplating what we see is becoming a lost art.