Photographer

Magnus Lorentzson

Fine Art photographY

Paris

There must be countless of songs where people sing the praises of cities. Cities they love, cities they have made love in, cities they never want to hear about again. Cities they long for even though they have never been there. Cities they read about in history books when they were at school when they were young. Cities they later have visited and fallen in love with. Cities that have been bombed to pieces.

Beep beep beep… I just started this unique part of this web site – Iiiiits guessing time! I hereby guess that the city of Paris is well above the world average for sung-about-cities. Let’s say that’s right!? OK?! It kind of provides a better platform for the story to come…

Another thing, besides the singing stuff, that is so cool about Paris is that historically, it is a city where people have moved to, filled of hope to be able to express themselves freely, unhindered to move around, socialize, etc. things they, for some reason, had a difficulty doing before.

My evidence for this claim? Just some verbal information from a former very close friend who has already passed on. I thought it over while living there and I got the feeling that it would be a true story.

I moved to Paris in 2010. Before that, I had only spent a few days there when I was travelling by interrail. Folks, we’re talking ages ago here! Shake your head like Indians and say “Many many ages”! Are you already feeling better!?

I first lived there full-time, near Pont de Bir-Hakeim – by far the most photographed and filmed bridge in the city – and then moved to Tynnered, a suburb of Gothenburg, commuting between there, the west coast of Sweden and the heart of Europe. I loved to drop the line, the film title paraphrase Tynnered – Paris when talking about travelling between my two different homes.

It is only recently that my longing to return to Paris has reached more reasonable levels.
At least, that’s what I believed until Céline Dion, after a long absence from public appearances due to illness, sang Hymne à l’amour at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. There she stood, in the rain, some levels up in the Eiffel Tower. Next to a soaking wet grand piano, she gave it all, as if she had never had more than a slight cold some weeks earlier! This time with a depth in her voice I never spotted before.
I’ve watched the video clip at least 50 times and I have, for real / super-duper-true / rock-solid / no, I’m not kidding, cried every single time! Thank you Big C!

Call me when you’re around next time. It’s your turn to pay the restaurant bill.
You owe me big for the tissues!