Photographer tests his luck with the usually reserved French to take stunning street portraits

Although Schaller has lived in London for most of his life, he is half French on his mother's side. On a recent trip to see family and friends in Paris, he decided to take his camera and see if street photography in the City of Light would be any different from the streets back home.

He explained: "I have not visited Paris in a few years, and have never been with the intention of doing photography. Being a French speaker I feel very comfortable there, and it seemed a good choice. I like travelling all over the world doing street photography and connecting with the people of the countries I visit in a meaningful way. Photography helps me achieve this. Many of the pictures I took in Paris were spontaneous and candid, but I asked for permission to take shots more often than usual. The etiquette between subject and photographer in a street context is very different in Paris to London. I have found in London people do not mind having their photo taken candidly, but the French are more particular in this way, so I felt out of respect, I should sometimes ask people for permission to take a portrait."

Schaller continued: "The point of the series, was to try and gleam a sense of the characters of Paris, and to share the results with the world. I feel that Parisians are generally very different to Londoners, and I hope the pictures reflect that in comparison to my London work. Even the quality of light was different. It was very cloudy for the duration of my trip, but the light was very diffused and even, perfectly suited to black and white photography."

Discover more of Alan Schaller's work at www.alanschallerphotography.co.uk. Or check him out over at the Street Photography London collective.

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