I find the joy radiating from the picture contagious; the smiles, the dance-like posture caught in the instant.
He notices you taking his picture, yet he does not look at you; he looks at his friend filming or, like you, photographing him, with the Rue Royale, Place de la Concorde and National Assembly in the background.
The three of you are standing on the steps of the Madeleine. I’ve seen this picture many times. The representation of inexhaustible life. A moving photograph.
The posture of each character is elegant in the extreme, revealing their bond – friendship or love.
They find Paris stunningly beautiful.
The whole world is held within the photograph. As long as I’m looking at it, nothing outside the framing rectangle matters. The current international situation eclipsed by their being on these steps.
