Look up.
Higher than the trademark windmill sign of the Moulin Rouge, and out of sight of even the double-decker tourist bus tours, 23-year-old photographer Alistair Wheeler takes to the rooftops of Paris to revel in lesser appreciated angles on the City of Light and its people.
Born in London, raised in Montpellier, and now living and studying software engineering in Paris, the self-taught photographer has amassed an Instagram following of nearly 100,000 eager to view the city through his lens, literally and figuratively. Though it may seem as though every picture of Paris has already been taken, Wheeler does the impossible and captures fresh, engaging portraits of everyday life and landscape in the creative capital.
“At first I was showing Paris in a very touristy way,” Wheeler admits to AdoramaTV. “As the years went by, I was thinking to myself that the touristy and the deja vu part of Paris wasn’t that interesting anymore and that’s when I shifted my style.”
Wheeler’s “go-to” setup is the Canon 1Dx Mark II with a 35mm 1.4 lens, and Adobe Lightroom for edits to bring the images into coordination with his signature finish: a matte effect and colors muted to a palate of tones resembling roof tiles, or river pebbles. Occasional black and white images slip through, as if Paris herself demands a certain due in monochrome.
Despite the incredible variety of subjects and locations in his portfolio, Wheeler finds it easy to pick a favorite shot, saying: “It’s a picture of these two ladies in Hanoi, which is basically the first picture I took when I got to Vietnam. Their reaction — I thought they were going to ask me to stop taking pictures, and they didn’t — she just nudged her friend and they turned to me and gave me a smile. That’s what I love…” He initially surmised disapproval from these subjects because he so often faces it back home. “I’ve been asked often in France to delete the pictures.”
In order to bounce back from such discouragement, Wheeler allows himself to indulge in portraiture when he travels outside of Europe, such as during a recent trip to Japan. “The people were so ‘photo-friendly,’” he says. “Japan is definitely the country that made me want to push myself to take street portraits.”
And if it’s more portraits his followers want, then Wheeler is happy to oblige. He reads every Instagram comment, but laments to AdoramaTV that constructive criticism is lacking, because “Instagram is kind of a happy place.” The positive response enjoyed by Wheeler has translated into opportunities to work with brands, including Hennessy, Bogarde (a Parisian bike company), and La Mordue Hard Cider. His most recent project, a partnership with Canon France, saw him condensing his knowledge of Paris’ grittier locations for a guide to safe and photogenic urban exploration (#urbex) around the city because, as it seems, if he’s not on the rooftops of Paris he’s under its streets.
Cynthia Drescher is a professional travel journalist, writing for Conde Nast Traveler, CNN, and The Independent. She’s flown on aircraft fresh from the factory, scuba dived with sharks and shipwrecks, visited all seven continents and the North Pole, and still it’s not enough.
