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Alain Cornu’s Roofs of Paris

If you have been to Paris you might remember its mythical nights full of love and unknown. Photographer Alain Cornu focus on the second topic - unknown for the common eye, and that is Paris roofs.

"I couldn’t sleep that night. My body was resting but images were dancing in my head: artificial lights, anarchic buildings, unattainable people… It was an incomprehensible world depriving me of sleep. After a while, I decided to get up, get dressed and leave the house. It would have been the perfect opportunity for a nighttime walk, but I didn’t go outside. Having lived for many years on the ground floor of a Parisian building, it had never occurred to me to go upstairs. I turned on the light and started climbing the stairs..."

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The first landing was a surprise. Although I was familiar with the decorations—the Persian patterns, the corniche, the color of the doors and the texture of the walls, this place seemed foreign to me. With a mixture of fear and excitement, I climbed up the next flight of stairs. There’s no law that says you can’t wander around your own building at night, but I still felt like I was doing something wrong. I kept climbing and my intuition told me that I was doing something whose logic would only become clear later on.

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The only light came from the skylight, ran along the wall , spilled onto the floor and up the service ladder hanging there. It was used by roofing workers, chimney sweep and antenna salesmen to get on the roof.

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The lock had been left undone. I saw a sign inviting me to go up further .I dragged the ladder to reach the openning and went out taking the ladder wit me and closing the window,

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série "Sur Paris" - rue des Pyrénées 75020 Paris - France

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I stood up slowly and felt a great calm.

série "Sur Paris" - rue Princesse 75006 Paris - France

P.s. You might also like "Parisian Rooftops by Michael Wolf" or "Paris Views by Gail Albert Halaban"