Visiting Leila Menchari’s garden in Tunisia
An Hermès exhibit to honor Leila Menchari and my journey to her beloved garden in Tunisia
Young man with pitchfork, Studio Maignet, Paris, date unknown
I collect old portrait cards all over the world but it was the semiotics of this one that intrigued me
Warrior-gymnasts in Tonkin, Vietnam, 1909
French overlords in colonial-era Vietnam make the locals do ridiculous things
On the attacks in Paris
Le Ca Rillon and Le Petit Cambodge, both hit by Islamic State, were two of my favorites in Paris
Charles de Gaulle campaign poster
After the attacks by Islamic State in Paris the old slogan “With You, For You” is fitting
When I stumbled into John Galliano’s greatest show
On John Galliano’s return, a memory of seeing one of his greatest moments
Portrait of a boy, Paris, early-20th C
A magnificent portrait found in Paris leads to two legendary photographers
My new Hermès article is now out
I travel to French Basque country for the latest in the series I write and photograph for Hermès
In Paris, this photo is illegal
Street photography is against the law in the place in which it was born
In Paris, the Olympics are all about judo
Jingoism is bad enough but someone else’s jingoism is truly excruciating
Did Bashar al-Assad pay for this photo?
In 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy brought Bashar al-Assad in from the cold. Why?
What will France do about the Far Right?
Ignore Marine Le Pen. The French were just fed up with Sarkozy, not mainstream right policies
Does this man look like a French President?
François Hollande seems inadequate to the challenge ahead but Sarkozy proved an unserious President
Vietnam Chante revolutionary songs, Paris, France, c1967
Employing everything from martial chants to opera in support of revolution in Vietnam
Good coffee arrives in Paris at last
Parisians will one day have the heated partisan debates about coffee they now have about macarons
Did Gaddafi give Sarkozy 50m euros?
France’s dealings in Africa have often been sordid but Libya had seemed a break from this tradition
Typography and world conquest
This exhibition shows the moment colonial expansion brought the Gutenberg revolution to the world
There’s a soixante-huitard feel to these Occupy protests
Will Zuccotti Park be the Blvd Saint-Michel of our era? These posters suggest a similar spirit
Are American conservatives the new French?
Libya suggests that conservatives want chest-beating glory more than they want success
Chocolat Pupier Asian cultures album, France, 1936
A 1936 collectible album for children, embedded with the politics of its age
French diary from WWII
The cramped hand suggests a shortage of paper, the mysterious letters and numbers hint at a code
Malcolm Gladwell’s inexplicable indulgence of an anti-Semite
Was the L’Oréal founder and Nazi collaborator merely a pragmatist, as Gladwell contends?