April In Paris – by L. Bird

‘April In Paris’ is the first series of the project ‘f r a g m e n t s o f a w o m a n ‘ s l i f e’ . Each series is the story of a real and ordinary moment, lived by a woman and documented by ten diptychs with a short story inspired by them. This storytelling project melds photography and literature, explores their own borders, flirts with reality and imagination without trying to find a reasonable balance between them.

In Paris, on a Saturday, a woman is preparing herself to meet a man. She’s known him for a while, although they have only been polite acquaintances, not even friends. With time, his relationship to her, and not knowing what he really feels for her, comes to her mind more often than she would like. She has tried to fight against this strange phenomenon, this increasing sensation it reveals, but there is nothing she can do but let it take the place it reclaims… This afternoon, she’s experiencing the thrill of this coming moment, fed by her suspended hopes that something will happen. In just a few hours they will meet; this event is appearing to be a date.

The light by the end of this afternoon is sweet and tenuous. In front of the window, facing Paris, her thoughts are about nothing and anything. Music is on, but she can barely hear it.

Things she’s left out are like tracks of her day. Shoes and socks abandoned since she came out in the morning, clothes on her undone bed, are tiny signs of her mood.

For an instant, she looked into her own eyes searching for answers to the next hours. She would better…

Sitting down in her bath, she’s cleaning her skin, from her neck to her feet, with delicate movements… The music is coming from the living room and she lets her thoughts follow its rhythm now…

What time can it be?

Back in her bedroom, the waltz of clothing starts. A blouse, a t-shirt, This one would be better?! if ‘better’ can be possible in that matter… If she’s worried, it’s nothing but excitement.

While she’s painting her lips, she tries to figure out this very first moment. Would she know his thoughts at first sight? Shoes on, she smiles at the mirror, as if it were him, to visualize how she would look smiling at something he would say. But it only took her a second to laugh at herself.

Time… She’s not late, but the elevator took so long to come to her floor. She doesn’t think about anything, anymore.

Now, she’s just on his way;

L. Bird is an independent photographer and film maker based in Paris [France]. Her work is all about storytelling, whatever it concerns [whether photography, series or short-movies]. Her work’s aesthetic is mainly inspired by street and documentary photography, but in such manner as that it always turns her images into contemporary tales…

Instagram: @ladybird.notes

Vimeo: Lady Bird