PARIS IS IN BOSTON

This book was inspired by the Boston Public Library. Every time I looked at The Boston Public Library, I thought, "this could be in Paris. " Then, as I looked a number of other scenes around Boston, this same thought kept coming back to me and I began looking at Boston in a wholly new light.

The shoot was done 2007 and 2008 and I started to put the book together. It wasn’t until after the shoot was finished that I decided to do some research into Boston’s architectural history and discovered a tremendous connection between Paris and Boston.



REMARKABLE HISORY

My research revealed that during the Nineteenth Century, many of Boston’s most famous architects studied at l'École Beaux- Arts in Paris; so that Boston’s rich visual heritage includes many elements of the French Architectural Styles brought back from Paris.

The architect Charles Follen McKim modeled the façade of the Boston Public Library after that of the Bibliothèque Saint-Genevieve in Paris. Arthur Gilman’s plans for the wide boulevards of Commonwealth Avenue and Boylston Street were based on the Baron Haussmann’s plans for the Champs Élysées and the Avenue de la Grande Armée.



This is a photography book and whether you are familiar with the architectural history of Boston or not, I hope that the book will give you the feeling that "this could be in Paris" and that the images of both cities will stay with you wherever you go.

JAD

Prints are available from the Artist