Week 7: Canal Saint-Martin

In terms of locations, the Canal Saint-Martin may be a funny one to have chosen for a shoot. I mean, it’s iconic and reasonably picturesque, but there’s not an awful lot to say about the canal itself. Let’s see... it’s 4.5 km long, some of that is underground, and it connects the Canal de L’Ourcq to the Seine - but you could find all of that out on Wikipedia...like I did!

Dress - H+M

Cardigan - Charity Shop

From a more interesting point of view one could look at it as one of the early steps towards creating the Paris we know today. In 1802 Napoleon ordered it be built to provide for the rapidly-growing population, to bring in fresh water to prevent disease, and to transport goods. Up until this point Paris would have barely resembled the city we see today – it would still have been a largely medieval set-up with small dark streets unsuited to trade and too many people living in cramped, dirty housing. The canal would have been an important part of modernising the city. Speaking of modernisation – the Canal Saint-Martin must be the first body of water I've come across which has its own blog.

But, I have to be honest, the main reason I wanted to do a shoot at the Canal Saint-Martin was because it features in one of my favourite films of all time: Amélie . In this gem  of a film the heroine (Amélie) goes to skim stones on the lock of the Canal Saint-Martin to relax which makes for - in my humble opinion one of the most beautiful images in modern cinema (middle picture below). 

NOT MY PHOTO
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Made in 2001, set in 1997 and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet many of whose films to share the kooky style of Amélie.  When it first came out it was a BIG HIT and, as well as being nominated for 5 Academy Awards, it won 4 Césars (French Academy Awards), 2 Baftas and the title Best Film at the European Film Awards. Anyone who has studied French within the last 10 years or so, and indeed anyone who has seen a French film made within the last decade will probably have seen Amélie BUT if you are one of the unfortunate people to have missed out  on seeing this film I’ll give you a short synopsis and a strong recommendation.

Amélie is a young waitress living in Montmartre, who spent most of her childhood playing on her own because her parents believed she had a heart defect and home-schooled her. After discovering a small tin box full of someone’s childhood treasures one night she decides she will try to find the owner and return it. If the owner responds positively, she vows to become a regular do-gooder. While improving the lives of those around her, Amélie comes across Nino – a young man who is a bit of an outsider with a penchant for collecting strange things, such as other people’s discarded photo-booth pictures- and falls in love with him. I won’t spoil the film by telling you anymore, but  the clip below ought to give you a taste.

For the outfit this week, I wanted to recreate the shot from the film with the red dress against the green canal BUT wanted a slightly more polished look (think – as roommate suggested – Glam-elie). That said, wanted to preserve some of Amélie’s child-like awkwardness so added the oversize coat and the boots. Joy of a roommate happens to look not only like a perfect 1920s woman, she is also a dead-ringer for Audrey Tautou – the fabulous actress who plays Amélie.

Boots - Jemporium Vintage

Unfortunately we couldn’t get very near to the Canal itself (and certainly not the lock she stands on in the film) obviously too many pesky tourists have had a similar idea to us in the past! Nonetheless, the idea was to capture the spirit of the film, rather than to recreate it perfectly, so we took as many photos as we could in the surrounding park area.

Coat - Charity Shop 

Afterwards we went to warm up in a suitably Amélie-esque, a photography shop in the Marché des Enfants Rouge which is about a 15 minute walk away. The shop sells second-hand photographs and you can buy old polaroids for a euro apiece, definitely worth a look if you are visiting!

See a clip from the film here.