The public square near Paris’s city hall was experiencing renovation at the time Mélissa David captured the photograph on her way through on her way to an meeting.
She carried her camera in the hope of shooting photos, but when she noticed she had forgotten to charge the batteries, she opted for her phone in its place.
“It felt like an typical sunny day in Paris, the capital teeming with busy people,” she states. “There were huge boards featuring printed visuals installed outside the city hall to shield part of the renovation. Sunlight was beautiful, and I hoped to capture the dramatic outlines of passersby passing by beside the child holding balloons.”
The photograph happened naturally and the diversity of postures genuine. David subsequently adjusted the image using Photoshop Express, an action she doesn’t mind admitting. “Post-processing is completely a component of the creative process,” she comments.
Along the way, she transformed the original shot into monochrome: “Black and white feels to me like a means of discovering art in everyday life.”
David adds that during photography, she “doesn’t consider the viewers” first. “In my view my pictures reveal a lot about me,” she remarks. “Similar to a connection between my internal state and the external world.
“People perceive images or understand my shots in approaches I couldn’t predict. It reveals their own emotions and visions, and I love it when that occurs. At that point the picture isn’t owned only to me any more.”
