Photographing la Parisienne: Some Motifs in Baudouin

n 2006 French photographer Baudouin embarked on an exploration of the “icon of elegance and savoir-vivre,” la Parisienne. His book, 75 Parisiennes, published in October 2013 and accompanied by an exhibition at the Clémentine de la Féronnière gallery in Paris, consists of 75 portraits of Parisian women selected from 8750 photographs taken over 250 shoots. Baudouin’s book is interesting in terms of the treatment of the Parisienne type because it puts into play various pre-existing themes or motifs, revealing the vitality and currency of la Parisienne, a type or figure ubiquitous in the art and letters of nineteenth century France. In his book, Baudouin sets out to depict modern-day Parisiennes in contemporary interior settings. In doing so, he both reinvents and reinforces the Parisienne type, which has undergone several transformations since it came to prominence in nineteenth-century French culture. The depth of Baudouin’s work is found, in part, in this cultural history.