Metropolitain: A Portrait of Paris [Hardcover]

Matthew Weinreb (Author), Matthew (Photographer) Weinreb (Author), Fiona Biddulph (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1994

Paris has always enjoyed a reputation as a city at the forefront of architecture and urban planning. Its faubourgs and its boulevards, its palaces and hotels, its towers and arches and its notorious glass pyramid, are the public face of what is perhaps the most imposing city in the world. Over the decades, photographers and artists have amassed hundreds of images of the city and its buildings. Matthew Weinreb's photography, however, provides a refreshingly different approach, throwing a new and startling light on even the most familiar sites. Through elaborate sequences, astonishing angles and intriguing details, this volume is a powerful celebration of the buildings and their features, punctuated by Fiona Biddulph's anecdotal essays on centuries of Parisian architectural history.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There's a magnificent colored glass skylight pictured on a double spread in this book that was photographed not in a cathedral but a department store. On the very next page is the highly distinctive tower of a steam laundry. Such is Weinreb's uncanny eye -- and lens -- for the details that escape most people. The boulevards, bridges, palaces and archways that Parisians prize are here, but so are the weird and wonderful things they often take for granted about their great city, like the skull with bat's wings that sits on the corner of a tomb in the Pere-Lachaise cemetery. Weinreb has special fondness for the many gargoyles that decorate the keystones of arches.

From the Publisher

Composed of a sequence of images punctuated by a series of essays which explore Paris through its architectural features and materials, this book focuses on both famous landmarks and lesser-known, anonymous buildings. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714831565
• ISBN-13: 978-0714831565
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,359,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful photographs with a focus on architectural detail, February 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Paris: Portrait of a City (Paperback)

If you are the kind of person whose travel photos contain lots of shots of interesting doors, building facades and architectural details you should find this book delightful. The book contains a large number of color photos and also some very interesting short paragraphs on the history of building styles and design in Paris.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paris From Another Perspective, June 21, 2004

By 

V. Marshall (North Fork, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paris: Portrait of a City (Paperback)

This little book of photos by Matthew Weinreb is perfect to take along for inspiration while visiting Paris.

Matthew Weinreb takes extraordinary photographs of the beautiful city of Paris from many different perspectives and angles. He allows the city of Paris to come alive and show off all of the little intricate details that make this city so mesmerizing. The Eiffel looks like lace, Notre Dame becomes a sanctuary of light, doors to Parisian buildings become entrances of art, towers, stain glass, bridges and domes become perfect masterpieces.

If you have ever been to Paris this book will transport you back in time with beautiful memories or it will inspire you to visit the city in order to find your own inspirational moments. Weinreb will certainly aid in rousing a better view of this city of light. His photographs will romance you and might even convince you to take a few of your own in a different light, changing forever your future scrapbooks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great book - bad cover, August 28, 2005

By 

Paris Lover "Trish" (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paris: Portrait of a City (Paperback)

The photos in this book are beautiful. The information in this book is excellent. The cover on this book is terrible. I opened this book a few times and the cover fell off the book. I re-glued the cover and the problem with that is the old glue marks show. Improve the cover and this is a completely wonderful book about Paris.