sami has an i

The Pyramid

Eiffel Tower # 20 Favorite Only

I delight in taking photos of the tower, and continue to find new angles and moods. These are my 20 favorites, out of the hundreds that I have. Please don’t count them (I’m not very disciplined).

The Tower sparkles every hour on the hour. At one in the morning, it sparkles with its base lights off. This ghostly look is what you get if you hold the shutter open long enough.

Another lonely American in Paris.

Bastille day.

Catching rays at the Café de l’Homme

Under the bridge

Bridges are usually seen from above, but sometimes what’s underneath is more interesting.

Looking out from the negative space. I think this is the Pont de l’Alma.

Neither new nor nine (Pont Neuf).

Pont de Bercy

I cross over this bridge every morning, but on this sunny morning I went underneath. Pont Alexandre III.

I call him Francois. Pont Alexandre III.

Golden hour on the Seine.

Beaugrenelle

Get moving

Iya Traoré is a Ghanian freestyle footballer who’s been in the Guinness Book of World Records three times. This photo was taken atop Montmartre.

Place de la République, birthday shot.

Hotel de Ville de Paris

Colonnes de Buren, Palais Royal.

Catching red smoke, in the streets of the 7th after the 2018 World Cup. France won.

Somewhere in the Marais.

Miami F L A

The guy on the bike was so polite, he tried to stop when he saw me line up my camera. But he didn’t and I got the shot !

Pétanque, boules, bocce, place des Vosges.

My red rocket, in front of the Musée d’Orsay.

My daughter kicking me.

The Centre Pompidou, an architectural crime perpetrated on the city of Paris.

Paris Burning I

Notre Dame, the heart of Paris. The night it burned, the crowd watched quietly.

Watching the flames in silence

Paris burning II

During the first few weekends of the gilets jaunes movement, I spent a lot of time following the riots around town, observing from both sides. I inhaled countless clouds of tear gas and was hit several times by the canisters that the police fired into the crowd. They don’t hurt, they’re not to be mistaken for bullets.

Police pushing demonstrators down rue Royale. I slid in from behind on my bike.

Standing right behind Gillette and Jones, across from a line of locked and loaded policemen, probably wasn’t the brightest thing I’ve ever done. Passerelle Léopold.

Across from Parc Monceau, in the usually quiet 17th.

Policemen advancing along the Parc Monceau.

Blvd Malesherbes, Paris 17.

My ride. It’s important to move around quickly.

Paris burning III

The days preceding the Olympics were often dreary and the imposing construction projects along the river aroused a mixed sense of apprehension and anticipation

Let the good times roll !

Hungarian cyclist Attila Valter powering down the boulevard Saint Germain in the Men’s Olympic time trial for Team Hungary !

The first two days of the games were marked by rain, and the Saturday cycling time trials, pictured here on the boulevard Saint Germain, weren’t spared.

World Champion Ellen van Dijk showing her determination, 2km from the finish of the Women’s Olympic time trial.

Her bike looks like it’s barely touching the ground !

The first two days of the games were marked by rain, and the Saturday cycling time trials, pictured here on the boulevard Saint Germain, weren’t spared.

Fans cheering on Team USA 🇺🇸

The sun eventually came out and food influencers from around the world converged on Paris, here in the shadow of the Olympic flame

Standing guard over the Stade de France during the Olympic Women’s Rugby Sevens

Women’s Rugby Sevens at the Stade de France

Lady Black Ferns of New Zealand 🇳🇿sending Team China 🇨🇳 home

Very pregnant Azeri 🇦🇿 archer, Yaylagül Razamanova, at the Invalides stadium - the baby kicked while she fired a tiebreaking arrow !

Women’s Olympic triathlon, coming up rue du Bac in the 7eme. I caught this while cycling out to the Marne to see the rowing finals (next picture).

Olympic rowing, Vaires sur Marne

The Olympics gave center stage to « urban » sports like BMX at Place de la Concorde

China 🇨🇳 vs Spain 🇪🇸

3x3 basketball at Place de la Concorde

In the very Eurocentric world of cycling, there aren’t many black riders, but the fans were certainly showing a lot of enthusiasm and encouragement to Rwandan cyclist Eric Manizabayo, pictured here near the top of rue Lepic in Montmartre

Curious spectator in Montmartre, craning to get a view of the Men’s Olympic road race

Women’s Olympic cycling on avenue de l’Opéra

Women’s Olympic walking - the participants must always have one foot on the ground, or else it’s running

One block away from the pandemonium of the triathlon relay, life went on

Grand entrance to the beach volleyball stadium on the Champ de Mars

Taliqua Clancy, team Australia 🇦🇺 women’s beach volleyball semifinal, peeking out at the opposition

Chérif he don’t like it - Team Qatar 🇶🇦 men’s beach volleyball semifinal

Men’s beach volleyball semifinal winners, team Sweden 🇸🇪

Apparently the rings are becoming a permanent feature

Vasque Olympique - the Olympic cauldron

My last shot from Paris 2024 - Paralympics marathon runner from Japan 🇯🇵 Yutaka Kumagai, flying past the Assemblée Nationale

Team Mongolia

But I seem to spend a lot of time in bars and restaurants

.

At the puces

La Réserve

Tomato tart at Miss Marple

Gare au gorille

L’Atelier Robuchon

This reminds me of how I used to draw women when I was five. Courtesy of Joel Robuchon (Etoile).

Le Dome, 17eme

Before taking this one, I never thought I would use the hashtag #asiangirls

Barcelona night

La coupole, Montparnasse

Shangri La hôtel, Paris, Thanksgiving lunch

Fiola Mare, at the bar, Washington DC, 2019

Mamma primmi, Paris 17

Cucchiaio ? No grazie !

Rue du quatre septembre, Paris

Café Varenne, Paris 7

Euro 2016 fan zone, Champ de mars

Istanbul, in front of the Sultanahmet mosque

La Maison Blanche, Paris

Somewhere between Avignon and Nice, on my bike. Lifesaving pizza napolitaine.

Steam bar, Paris 6

Peas

Royal Monceau

Yoom dim sum, Paris 6

Southwest seafood market, Washington DC, 2019.

Franck Phelan at the Lutétia

A trap (chez piège)

Mesures, Paris 2024

When Paris was Closed

It looks like this workman is boarding up les Invalides, but in fact he was taking down a temporary space that had been put up for fashion week by Céline. March 2020

Place Vauban, March 2020

May 2020, in the final days of the first lock down

Saint Francois Xavier, Paris 7eme, March 2020

Paris 7eme, April 2020

Institut de France, 2020

Champs Elysées, May 2020 in the final days of the first lock down

Montmartre, May 2020, in the final days of the first lock down

Fontaine de Mars, April 2020

March 2020, first day of the first lock down, near the Gare de Lyon

The Eiffel Tower viewed from Montmartre, during the last days of the first lock down, May 2020

Classic courtyard view. Paris 7eme

When I posted this photo on Instagram, I had many commenters that were convinced that they had seen this view before and were placing it in different spots all around Paris.

Paris countryside - The lawn on the avenue de Breteuil went unmowed for several months. This was taken in May 2020 and the next morning the lawn mowers arrived.

Street Paris

Jesus on the left bank, on his way to Notre Dame. The woman on the left looks like she’s seen a ghost. 2019.

Red on rue de Levis, Paris 17

Nun in the Marais

Rue Mouffetard, Paris 5

Under the arches of the Louvre

Summer sunset on the Seine

Foggy Sunday morning at the Louvre

My coffee in clouds

How the other half live

Nuns showing the right path, on rue de Solférino

Work of @hopare1 on rue de Turenne

Angry fish, rue Réaumur

Parisians

Nuns

Rue de Babylone. I’m told that they walk down from Montmartre, across Paris, to visit the convent on the Parc Catherine Labouré.

Ladies that lunch

Blueberry Maki Bar, Paris 6

Steamy conversation

Recto Verso Café, rue Portefoin. January 2024.

Colorful gentlemen on rue de Lappe, 11ème

Reflecting on Paris

Canal Saint Martin, summer 2020

Lamborghini parked in front of Sophia Coppola’s (rue de Luynes)

Brides

Brides, they’re a thing here. Everywhere.

August 2024, during the Olympics, one block away from the chaos of the mixed triathlon !

Action photographer, January 2025

Princesse, at the Louvre, May 2025

Paris nights

Sunsets over the Seine

This is another one of those categories in which I have hundreds of photos. Picking among them is like choosing your favorite child.

Sunrises over the Seine

Snowy Paris

Snow is such a rarity in Paris, you have to catch it when it falls.

Paris sous la pluie

Unlike snow, rain is not a rarity.

At the beach

Paris underwater

Floods seem to have become a regular thing

Provence

Biot, on the Côté d’Azur. To the left ⬅️ is the town parking lot and to the right ➡️ is the town cemetery.

Le Bar-sur-Loup, vintage Martini ad

Nothing moves on a hot summer afternoon (Valbonne, August 2024)

Provence colors

Old Americans

"Old Americans" (vieilles americaines) is how the French refer to vintage American cars.

Pink Cadillac, place Vendome

Lookup

Look down

When in DC

Georgetown Waterfront, Mother Earth.

Georgetown Waterfront, Mother Earth, in front of Fiola Maré, one of my most happy places.

Georgetown Waterfront, Mother Earth.

Georgetown lights.

Georgetown

The Watergate.

Georgetown boathouse

Plane leaving National Airport.

The Wharf, Summer 2019.

Taken from a taxi on the Mall, DC WWI monument, Summer 2019.

DC by night, Lincoln Memorial, summer 2019.

After two months in hospitals, even the trash cans look interesting. Georgetown, Summer 2019.

River night life. Potomac River and Virginia, the Wharf, summer 2019.

Alma mater, graduation day, May 2019.

The Wharf by night, summer 2019.

The Whiskey Bar, Watergate Hotel. February 2020.

Lovely ladies at the Kennedy Center. One of them thought I was an artist. February 2020.

I like bikes

Ferrari club meeting, Parc de St Cloud

My vintage TS 125, RIP

Atop the Mont Ventoux

Shapes of things

Rue de l’université, Paris 7

Shearman, Paris 17

Istanbul, Galata

avenue de Lamotte Picquet, Paris 7

Steam Bar, Paris 6

Laundromat, Paris

Paris Photo 2019

Shearman, Paris 17

Paris 12

Bryant Park, New York

Shearman, Paris 17

Paris 17

Near Gare de Lyon, Paris 11

Jocteur, boulangerie, Paris 7

Paris 17

Restaurant bathroom somewhere in Paris

Place de l’école militaire, Paris 7

Musse de l’armée, Invalides, Paris 7

Under the Pont Alexandre III

Avenue de Breteuil, Paris 7

Cairo bedroom ceiling, Saudi embassy lights

Publicis drugstore, Joël Robuchon Etoile restaurant

Budapest windows

Budapest hotel lobby flower display

Châtelet métro, Paris

Air vents on the Seine

Unibail Rodamco Westfield headquarters

Three flag holders in the south of France

Musée de l’économie, Paris, interior window

Windows and rooftop in Valbonne

July 30, pizzeria, Roquefort-les-Pins

Rusty chair, port de l’Arsenal

Strange illuminated mannequins

Backlit runners under the Pont du Carrousel

Mao Grill, rue Beaubourg, chopsticks and mint leaf

When in London

Connaught Bar

When in New York

Bryant Park, New York

599 Lex. I worked here for five years, day and night, 7/7

Paul’s place, Chelsea

Italian restaurant on Broadway just off Union Square

Men in blue prepping for Puerto Rico 🇵🇷 day parade on Sixth Avenue (2023)

West Village institution (2023)

Sheep meadow, Central Park, 8 am on a Saturday (2023)

Nike HQ in NYC (2023)

Superstar (2023)

Lower Manhattan seen from Brooklyn piers, Brooklyn half marathon check in, May 2024

Good morning New York, May 2024

Elizabeth Street Gallery, May 2024

Russ & Daughters Appetizers, Lower East Side, May 2024

Russ and Daughters

Rockefeller Center

Little Italy

Lower East side sunrise (June 2024)

599 Lexington Avenue and 153 E 53rd (May 2024). I know these addresses well because both have housed Shearman & Sterling, which I joined in 1988 and only left in 2022.

Reach for the sky (Central Park 2024)

1909 Tiffany clock at 200 Fifth Avenue. Tiffany & Co moved its headquarters to this address in 2011. Seems like it was destiny.

JP Morgan library (June 2024). The man walking across the room is the current director.

While Donald Trump was off in Milwaukee at the Republican convention, New York’s finest stood tall in front of his building (July 2024)

Lexington Avenue during a massive thunderstorm (July 2024)

Fifth Avenue, seen from the Nike store. That’s Cartier across the street.

The view from Seven World Trade Center, courtesy of Möet Hennessy USA (July 2024)

White lines (World Trade Center Oculus, July 2024)

The view from Seven World Trade Center, courtesy of Möet Hennessy USA (July 2024). That’s the Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center, on the left.

Fotografiska, Park Avenue, Vivian Maier exposition

2nd and Bowery, East Village, dog walker (in the big city, they often get more attention than the humans)

Supreme bouncer, Nolita on Bowery

Firefighters with Reserve Engine 507, Spring Street

Big gay jamboree at the Orpheum Theatre, 1st avenue, East Village

The former Adath Jeshurun of Jassy Synagogue, Rivington Street, Lower East Side. The building served two congregations, the first Romanian and the second Polish, until 1976 when it was closed. Since 1979, it has served as a space for local artists.

Pictured here with a passing Harley Davidson.

270 Park Avenue (seen from 49th Street), JP Morgan Chase’s future headquarters, set to open in 2025.

Central Park runners, behind the South Gate House (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir)

Urban legend has it that shoes hanging over a power line have meaning, but there doesn’t seem to be a consensus as to what that meaning is. Common theories include commemorating a gang death or arrest or a sexual exploit, or marking drug sale territory. Others say it’s just an act of bullying.

None seems to be a good fit on this gentrified corner (Eldridge and Broome) on the Lower East Side.

Overthrow Boxing Club, Noho (Bleeker and Bowery)

International Center of Photography, Lower East Side

Line up

International Center of Photography, Lower East Side

International Center of Photography, Lower East Side. In the foreground, photo by John Vachon, protest in front of milk company, 1941.

International Center of Photography, Lower East Side

East Village barber shop

Chinatown, hand pulled noodles

Lanzhou beef noodles, since 1915

Ghost sign on Orchard Street (Max Feinberg)

LAAMS, 74 Orchard Street

« Curated Vintage, Art, Books & Ephemera, Streetwear »

Inside LAAMS

Kawasaki 440 in Kotn (Egyptian cotton) on Grand Street. I recognize it because I had one.

Mishka Soho restaurant under minimalist Moet & Chandon Pharrell Williams ad, on Broome Street, Soho

The view from Mishka’s on Broome Street

Katz’s Delicatessen

On the river

Looking Nice (Cote d'Azur)

Palm trees on the Promenade des Anglais

Antibes

Vence

Antibes, Sunday

Leaving Cagnes sur mer

Cannes

Baie de Cannes

St Tropez, happy hour

Nice, vieille ville

Gorges du Loup

Nice, vieille ville

Nice, Opera beach

Nice, vieille ville

Nice, Mont Boron

Biot

Valbonne

Biot, les arcades

Brown, in Antibes

Hotel Particulier des Jasmins, Le Bar sur Loup

Pont du Loup, Confiserie des Gorges du Loup

Toiling over a hot oven, making Socca, in Antibes. That’s my slice coming up.

Sunshine, we be cruising, Juan les Pins

Le défi, by Nicolas Lavarene, Antibes (August 2024)

Antibes rampart (August 2024)

Antibes (2024)

Valbonne golden hour (2024)

It’s always still the 70s somewhere on the Côte d’Azur (in this case, Antibes, August 2024).

Valbonne (August 2024)

Piments 🌶️ et aubergines 🍆

Valbonne market (August 2024)

Valbonne (August 2024)

Endless Mediterranean summer, Juan Les Pins beach

When in Istanbul

She was boring (in front of Sultanahmet mosque, under renovation in 2023)

Hagia Sophia, completed in 537, served 900 years as a church, 600 as a mosque

Atatürk reigning over the Egyptian bazar (mısır çarşısı) (2023)

Fountain of Ahmed III

Kamondo stairs up to Galata tower

Orataköy mosque from Ruby’s

Orataköy mosque

Xanadu

Vision in a dream, Sultanahmet in 2024

Istanbul fashion

Sultanahmet 2024

Action photographer

Sultanahmet at sunset, March 2025

Napoleon

When in Montmartre

Relais de la Butte

No caption required

Place du Lavoir

Rue Berthe

Amelie Poulain’s green grocer. Montmartre, 2020.

Rear window, at Farfelu. Montmartre, 2020. They didn’t survive the lockdown.

Relais de la Butte

Place Dalida, gay icon, Montmartre 2020.

Sacré Cœur, taken from a rooftop on the Champs-Elysées.

When in Venice

When in Austin TX

I’m sorry not to have gotten any of ZZTop or Lance, but I did get one of his bike shop

Airports

When in Liguria

Red bike and red bench with shoes. The red bench carries a statement in support of the campaign «No alla violenza contro le donne»

Paola the focaccia lady (Vernazza, Cinque Terre)

CiaoBella 💙

I think he’d been there since the night before. Or maybe the tide brought him in 😉 (Vernazza, Cinque Terre)

Idyllic beach 🏖

Savona

Spotorno

Capo di Noli

France is actually in the opposite direction

Leaving Genoa in the morning (Medio Levante)

Genoa Medio Levante

Cervo

San Giovanni Battista in Cervo, built between the XVII and the XVIII centuries, considered one of the greatest monuments in the baroque style of the Riviera Ligure di Ponente

Entrance to San Giovanni Battista in Cervo

Jesus in San Giovanni Battista in Cervo

Altar in San Giovanni Battista in Cervo

Body language (Sestri Levante)

Baia del Silenzio or Baia di Parigi ?

Sestri Levante

Santa Margherita

Corniglia, Cinque Terre

Bristol, Genoa

Bristol Genoa

Menton (France), looking across to the border with Italy, moments after cycling across

Menton (France)

Inescapable influencer wannabes

White picket fence in Ventimiglia

Nature reclaiming the ruins of the Chateau de Roquefort-les-Pins

These are the ruins of the Chateau of Roquefort-les-Pins, destroyed in 1341, by the inhabitants of the nearby village of Saint Paul, in an act of vengeance ordered by Robert, the Count of Provence, against Féraud de Cabris, the Prior of Rochefort.

De Cabris and his men had committed great villainies while rampaging throughout Provence, including besieging and setting fire to the chateau of Draguinan, burning all those who were inside. The inhabitants of Roquefort met the same fate.

The ruins are on a high hilltop in deep woods, with no signs indicating their presence. Nature is slowly reclaiming these now peaceful and forgotten grounds.

In the background, one can see the highest remaining point of the château. The climb up to it is treacherous, but the view of the valley below (the river Loup) is breathtaking.

Remains of the 12th century Romanesque chapel

The view from inside the chapel

August 2024 reprise

The highest remaining point of the castle - the photo does not convey how terrifyingly high this is.

When in the woods

Reflecting at the Bourse de Commerce

Greolieres and Gourdon ruins

Castle of Gréolières Haut and church of St Étienne

One of the remaining walls of the 13th century castle of Gréolières Haut. The ruins sit a few hundred meters above the medieval village of Greolières, which is still inhabited and contains the ruins of an 11th century castle, apparently destroyed by raiding Protestants.

Church of St Étienne, estimated to have been built in 1230. Unlike the adjacent castle and village, which are of the same era, the church has been restored.