Remarkable buildings, little-known parks, residential neighborhoods, industrial wasteland: Greater Paris inspires photographers on social networks. Far from the postcard images of the capital, it is a multiple and modern Île-de-France that is revealed there.
Grand Paris seen from my Mini
For her 40th birthday, Julie Gourhant has realized a childhood dream: to afford a Mini Cooper. It is with this that she now travels the Île-de-France and feeds her Instagram account. Meetings with associations, portraits of traders, focus on the work of cultural teams: the dynamism of the suburbs is told through her posts, which she completes with a podcast of the same name, in which she interviews great Parisians ( 1). ” The architecture and the transformation of Greater Paris are advancing very quickly, and photo reports are a way of telling the story of the city in evolution. The way we look at the suburbs is changing. She is alive and full of energy! Personally, I always find something beautiful there. »
The account : @legrandparisvudemamini
(1) Podcast “The Grand Paris seen from my Mini”, broadcast two Thursdays per month on My Paris Fm and The Muses of Paris.
Ile-de-France residents
An Instagram account created by a bank to document Greater Paris? Eh yes. Launched by Crédit Agricole d’Île-de-France, Les Franciliens is a gold mine for anyone looking for original ideas for outings without leaving the Paris region. We discover little-known buildings (like the Khánh-Anh pagoda in Evry), amazing shops (the bookstore installed in an old train in Auvers-sur-Oise), facades to admire in the capital (like that of the building by architect Henri Deneux, rue Belliard, in the 18th arrondissement) or even bucolic villages accessible by RER …
The account : @lesfranciliens
Paris East Village
Jessie, 37, grew up and lived between Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis. “In 2019, I came back to live in Romainville, the neighborhood where I had lived as a little girl. A forced and brutal return that I experienced badly at the start. There are always these preconceptions about the suburbs: it’s dirty, it’s ugly, it’s dangerous … And then I went out, I walked, I looked, I took pictures . I strolled through Montreuil, Bagnolet or Pantin, and I thought of Berlin, New York … This New York of the 1980s which seemed magical to us, where everything seemed possible. I discovered a little New York east of Paris! “ Thus was born Paris East Village, a project that she nurtures by traveling through eastern Paris, photographing the facades of old shops, construction sites and cities. A modern account, which shakes up the classic image often associated with Paris.
The account : @paris_east_village
Enlarge Your Paris
Convinced that the future of the capital will also be played out beyond the ring road, the site EnlargeYourParis, built on a naughty play on words, lists the best of Grand Paris news. Artistic events, new wastelands, urban agriculture projects, ideas for walks: his Instagram account is a mirror of the wealth (cultural, natural, associative …) of the Île-de-France.
The account : @enlargeyourparis
The Grand Paris Trail
Since 2016, pedestrian expeditions led by a multidisciplinary team (artists, architects, town planners, etc.) and collective explorations have been organized along the 600 kilometers of the future Grand Paris path. A first version of the trail, which crosses 150 municipalities and seven departments, was unveiled in 2020, notably during an exhibition at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal. The project’s Instagram account documents these urban walks, from the Butte des Châtaigniers in Argenteuil to the Groues district in Nanterre …
The account : @lesentierdugrandparis
Greater Paris Jef
Plots aligned on the road, pedestrian crossings, stairs, bus wheels or geometric elements that make up the facades of buildings: the account of Grand Paris Jef shows a very graphic metropolis. “My work focuses on shapes, perspectives, geometry, Explain Jean-François Naturel, who works as a graphic designer, photographer and videographer. I like the details of buildings from the 1970s, the textures. I love going to photograph Créteil, where there is a lot of brutalist architecture. I was shocked when I discovered the large ensemble of Choux. And I find the Nuage towers in Nanterre fascinating. This inhabitant of Livry-Gargan sees Greater Paris as a formidable playground for photographers, whose rules are constantly being updated. “It is a landscape in full transformation, in particular with the construction of the Grand Paris Express. In Seine-Saint-Denis, we are witnessing the disappearance of the old workers’ and industrial pavilions, which are replaced by modern housing or office buildings. In the future, I think I will move more towards documentary photography to tell this. “
The account : @grandparisjef
The Parisian moment
A villa spotted in Charenton as the output of an Italian film, street-art in Montreuil, a winter garden hidden away in the heart of Paris, a Belle Epoque house on the banks of the Marne or even the Paris region seen from the cockpit of a plane… The Instant Parisien Instagram account extends the company with its weekly newsletter: discovering Paris and its region through what makes their charm, off the beaten track.
The account : @linstantparisien
The Grand Pariscope
Jean-Fabien Leclanche, author and photographer (2), imagined Le Grand Pariscope while he was working on the creation of the Guide of great Parisians (in collaboration with the BETC agency): “Greater Paris is not liked or even understood. Too technocratic, too political, too financial, this word has not found its place in the vocabulary of the suburbs, which received the idea as a negation of its identity, its values and local cultures. So to better understand the idea of Greater Paris, I first decided to better understand the suburbs in its diversity. I have traveled, most often on foot, a large part of Île-de-France. “ On his account, which he likes to refer to as “ a sort of Panini album from Grand Paris, still captured on the iPhone ”, it reveals all the diversity of the Ile-de-France region: sheep walked by urban shepherds, walls covered with street art, industrial wastelands, facades of Hindu temples …
The account : @legrandpariscope
(2) The Chronicles of Montreuil, published in the July editions, in November 2019.
Doorways of Paris
“There are things known and things unknown, and in between there are the doors. “ The sentence, which the story attributes to both Aldous Huxley, William Blake and Jim Morrison, opens the Doorways of Paris account. Created by Raquel Puig, a Barcelonan living in France, it lists the doors of the capital in all their diversity: elegant or old-fashioned, sober or dressed in words of love, of Art Nouveau or Haussmannian inspiration… An original way to travel virtually , in a few clicks, from the gilding of the gate of the Palace of Versailles to the frescoed doors of the rue des Artistes, in the 14th arrondissement.
The account : @doorwaysofparis
My little suburb
A resident of Palaiseau, Sandrine wanted to highlight the Parisian suburbs through walks and a selection of good addresses. “I wanted to prove that there is a lot to do and see in the suburbs. Contrary to what one may believe, the suburbs are not a dormitory city. ” Every weekend, she goes on a mop to discover an address spotted on the networks, then takes the opportunity to explore the city where she is. “I then present the address in question on my blog and feed my Instagram account with the photos taken in the city. “ His best find in Ile-de-France? Les Thés Brillant tea room in Châtenay-Malabry (92), located in the Vallée-aux-Loups departmental park. “A magnificent setting, not far from Chateaubriand’s house, where you can taste delicious pastries. »
The account : @mapetitebanlieue
RATP
In 2016, the American site The Verge dedicated the RATP Instagram account for the artistic quality of its posts. Followed by nearly sixty thousand people, his photos indeed paint a stunning portrait of the capital and its suburbs, yesterday (old photos, vintage advertisements) and tomorrow (launches of the Grand Paris Express tunnel boring machines, new mobility in the city …).
The account : @RATP
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