{"id":16125,"date":"2018-10-31T10:47:02","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T09:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colleensparis.com\/?p=16125"},"modified":"2020-04-21T17:44:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T15:44:42","slug":"willy-ronis-views-of-belleville-menilmontant-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-wptechsupport.com\/colleensparis\/2018\/10\/willy-ronis-views-of-belleville-menilmontant-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Willy Ronis-Views of Belleville Menilmontant in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Looking for china, found photos instead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Carr\u00e9<\/a>
Carr\u00e9 de Baudouin back of Pavillon Carr\u00e9 Rue des Pyrenees and rue de Menilmontant-Willy Ronis exhibit poster<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes a photo can make us curious, inspire us or wish we could find something…. By the time my sister saw the photos of my vintage chinaware, it was too late. I had already donated the set to Emmaus. I needed it back for her! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trek to one of the Emmaus stores (Goodwill-style shops founded in 1954 by Abb\u00e9 Pierre) took me to the north of Paris and the Porte de Menilmontant in the 20th arrondissement. “If I am going to the 20th”, I pondered, “why not check out local art exhibits in the area?” That thought and a quick look at l’Official des spectacles<\/a>, took me to the Le Pavillon Carr\u00e9 de Baudouin and the photo exhibit “Willy Ronis par Willy Ronis (until January 2, 2019)<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never found the China but I found an exhibit that took me some time to view because of the number of images (over 200) and the interesting subject matter (Ronis’s empathy to character in each of Ronis’s images). The exhibit has attracted over 30,000 visitors since it opened four months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memories of the past<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Trees on rue des Pyrenees give that countryside feel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Belleville and Menilomtant are in an area that was long ignored by Parisians, until “Willy Ronis discovered it in 1947”. Some of his images reminded me of times past in my Bastille neighborhood: the cry and image of the vitrier<\/em> (window repair man) and the bois \u00e0 charbon caf\u00e9<\/em> across the street from our apartment building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willy<\/a>
Vitrier, who repaired windows, had a mantra crying “Vitrier … vitrier!” The window replacement service is now available on the internet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The vitrier<\/em> carried his window glass in a frame on his back. Twice a month, he walked down the center of our narrow street. He cried out musically, “vitrier<\/em>! vitrier<\/em>!” A recording of his song is long gone. We invited him up once to repair one of our broken panes. Those panes were eventually replaced with double pane windows. His cry was replaced by the traffic noise on our narrow street. The vitrier<\/em> of today is now on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willy<\/a>
Cafe bois de charbon (for wine, coal, food and coffee<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When we moved in to our apartment with its old panes of glass, the four story building across the street was home to a few squatters. A gas explosion in the school had condemned the building and the attached caf\u00e9 . Traditionally, the natives of Auvergne (or bougnats<\/em>) ran all the Parisian charbon<\/em> (coal) depots, where they sold coal, wine and coffee. Only a homeless man occupied the condemned entry for several years. He is long gone. The condemned school has been replaced by a the school and its modern glass structure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willy<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This types of replacement appear during the exhibition. During one of the exhibition films “Une Journ\u00e9e avec Willy Ronis<\/em>” (A day with Willy Ronis), Ronis revisits his published images. The fade in-fade out effect takes the viewer from scenes of the 1940s and 1950s to the same place but different view in 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n