one from the archives: la parisienne

I'm pulling together photographs for a collaborative project I'm working on, and I came across this image above.  I took it at an outdoor cafe in Paris back in the summer of 2012.  The woman on the left was so intent on listening to her companion that she didn't notice I was taking the shot (or she did notice and just didn't care).

She is a complete stranger, I didn't meet her then, and I'll likely never meet her in the future.  But as I stare at this photo, I love everything about her.  I love that she seems strong and serious.  I love that she's totally engrossed in whatever it is her friend is saying.  I love that she wears red and animal prints unapologetically, and I even love that her undergarments are peeking out from her blouse a bit, and she appears to give not one damn.

I could be completely wrong about her, and her backstory might be something I could never imagine.  But I'm grateful for her to giving off this kind of confident vibe for my photograph, even if she wasn't aware she was doing it.  Because of her, the next time I'm feeling uneasy or insecure, I'm going to remember to channel the Woman With The Red Scarf.

Soundtrack:  Non, je ne regrette rien, as performed by Édith Piaf