I take an unreasonable number of photos in Paris. Not the polished kind — not the ones meant for frames or feeds — but the small, ordinary kind. A light through a window. A reflection in a puddle. A woman reading alone in a café.

It’s not about the photos themselves. It’s about what happens when I start looking for them.

Because once you start noticing beauty, you can’t stop.

A Different Kind of Attention

The camera shifts something.
When you walk around with the intent to capture, you start to see in composition — color, shape, texture, emotion. Your eyes go hunting for harmony. You start noticing small things: how the light hits a balcony, the way two strangers pass each other in perfect sync.

You start to pay attention differently.

That’s the secret Paris keeps giving away: it’s not that everything here is beautiful. It’s that everything here is noticed.

And once you practice that, it follows you home.

Translating It Back to Real Life

Try it.
Pick up your phone — or an actual camera if you have one — and walk through your daily routine like you’re a visitor.

Take a picture of your coffee mug, your street, your favorite grocery store aisle. Notice how the light moves through your day.

You’ll realize something quietly profound: your life has composition, too. You just forget to look for it.

Seeing through a lens in Paris trains you to notice more. But seeing through a lens at home — that changes how you experience your own life.

Collecting Beauty, Not Proof

When I photograph Paris, I’m not trying to document that I was there. I’m trying to hold on to the way it felt.
The awe. The color. The rhythm.

That’s the difference between collecting beauty and collecting proof.

The best pictures aren’t trophies — they’re reminders of presence.

What You Bring Home

The funny thing about Paris is that it follows you back.
You start to see beauty in parking lots and afternoon shadows. You start reaching for your phone not to scroll, but to capture.

And at some point — usually when you least expect it — you realize the trip isn’t over.

You’ve just learned to keep looking.