A Year in Paris Photo Series by Calum Bradshaw

Today, we’re featuring a panoramic travel story from film photographer Calum Bradshaw. Here is more from Calum about traveling to Paris over the last year and photographing it with the Hasselblad XPan.

I’m a photographer born and raised in rural England, but my partner grew up in Paris. My childhood memories are punctuated with trees and sheep; hers by world-famous monuments and thronging tourists. Over the last year, I’ve visited Paris with her five times, and, with my trusty panoramic camera hanging round my neck, have explored the beauty, history, and extraordinary breadth of this incredible city.

When walking through Paris, I invariably find myself looking up. The sky features prominently in most of these photos – sunsets, sunrises, soft winter afternoons, and muggy summer nights. The panoramic frame works wonderfully for skyline shots like these – I love the width of the Xpan’s 45mm lens, and its ability to give air to an image.

These images cover a cross-section of Parisian locales visited over the course of a year; the seasonal fair in the Jardin des Tuileries, the towers of the 13th arrondissement, the Palais Brongniart, the serene boating lake in the Bois de Vincennes, the intricate frontispiece of the town hall, Les Invalides, La Défence, and, of course, the inescapable Tour Eiffel. These pictures each capture a moment of exploration for me – beginning as a complete outsider, I now return to Paris with a feeling of warmth and familiarity.

Over the course of a year I shot Paris on a variety of different stocks. In particular, I love the results achieved with Ilford SFX – I used a soft yellow filter and am delighted with the rich, milky tones in the final images. I’ve also shot in a range of styles across the year, from controlled architectural studies to blurred impressionism.

Analog cameras and films used: Hasselblad XPan (Find at KEH Camera or on eBay) | Kodak Portra 800 (Find on Amazon), Ilford SFX (Find on Amazon), CineStill 400D (Find on Amazon), Fujifilm C200 (Find on Amazon)

Connect with Calum: Website | Instagram

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