Artist Blaise Arnold‘s nostalgic photo series focuses on significant Parisian cafs, stranded on lonely street corners. Equipped with his tripod, Arnold tours throughout Paris and its mottled suburbs on the weekends, searching out these character-filled bistros and bars. Shooting strictly at dawn or dusk, in wet weather, his project Red Lights has a cohesive visual theme that emits a certain dark yet wistful aura.
The aim of Arnold’s piece is to draw attention to these endangered haunts. He seeks to immortalize the significant, vintage meeting spots scattered throughout the changing city before they disappear completely. With neon lights reflecting off wet asphalt, Arnold’s photographs evokes a melancholic mood of nostalgia, as he pays tribute to the passage of time and attempts to capture the rich details of these lost cafs before they disappear.
Above: Le Blues Bar, Bondy
Rendez-vous des chauffeurs, Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine)
Le Madrigale, Saint-Denis
Les Sports. Avenue de Verdun, Ivry-sur-Seine
Lilly’s Caf. Dalle Chinatown. Paris XIII
Caf de la Gare, Ivry-sur-Seine
Le Balto, Nanterre
Le Cantal, boulevard de Charonne, Paris XX
Croas Hir bar. Plouvorn
Au Chemin de Fer. Chilly-Mazarin
L’Ariel, Paris XX
Le Mtro, rue des Pyrnes, Paris XX
Chez Pierre. Saint-Ouen
Le Gallia, Gentilly
Aux Folies, Paris XX
Le Maryland, Paris XIII
Le Fontenoy, Paris XVIII
Le 1930, Paris XI
Le Tabac du Parc, Le Perreux-sur-Marne
Caf Laumire, Paris Paris XIX