I need some great photos. Not like typical, tourist, sight seeing stuff but photos for photo class. I took a lot of funky photos with a lot of modern stuff in Philly this year but I need some really great pictures of really old things that'll serve as the majority of my prints for the rest of the year and could quite possibly be pictures I send off to college if I decide to make a porfolio. I know I wanna get one of the gaurds at Buckingham palace from all different angles but I like photographing buildings more than people, unless the people don't know they're getting their pictures taken. So anyway does anyone who's been to or lives in London or Paris that are just really old or really reflect the tradition in the two countries? Places in Oxford would be nice too cause we're spending a day there as well. Also if there's a park in london that without fail always has some guys playing who are so into their game they don't notice anyone else that'd be great to know too, cause i really wanna get people playing soccer and just having fun with it
really old things... well, you shouldnt have a hard time finding really old things in paris or london. all you need to do is look around you. (youve not yet been to europe, have you) and as for soccer.. regents park, hyde park, ect. shouldnt be hard either. (granted, if by "really old" you mean like, 800AD or something, you might have to search a bit harder, but nothing SUPER tough)
I don't care when it was built it just needs to look old. But yeah this is my first time over and the next time I go over I won't have use of a darkroom I don't think and if I do I won't have time to use it.
as soon as you get into either city, youll see a lot of stuff that looks old. especially if its your first time overseas, it will most definatley strike you.
Paris : I don't know where to start. Beside the usual touristical venues, if you wanna make some other pictures, maybe you can head for the train stations (Gares), avoid Montparnasse train station though, you can also try some of the churches, there are so many of them in addition of Notre-Dame, for example la Madeleine... Don't forget the Père Lachaise cemetery with all those celebrities buried there, small streets of Montmartre, Ile de la cité and Ile St-Louis. Next to the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter, there's the whole 5th arrondissement where you can find le Panthéon, the school of medecine and other interesting buildings and streets (Les Arènes de Lutèce notably). I've been living in the 11th arrondissement and there's still a visible legacy of the old parisian people life, speaking of which you should also go and see the canal Saint-Martin(near République). Oh ! And don't snub the Opera, the Trocadero, Les Invalides and in order to have a park under your belt : Le parc des Buttes-Chaumont or Le Jardin des Plantes next to my former uni Jussieu which (Jussieu) is not old but can be a pretty freaky place... OK, I think you'll be busy ! The numbers are the famous arrondissements.
I miss Paris Eight months living in France and Im smitten.... Nanbawan's suggestion of the Gares is a great idea - Gare du Nord (saw that one many a time coming in from my place in the Nord dept., ugh), Gare de L'Est, great photo ops.. Also take a pic of Ste. Chappelle, thats old, and its gorgeous.
Listen, if you want pictures of "old" then just go to Oxford. Seriously. And for more than just a day!!! You can walk around the city, but you should go into the colleges to see the grounds. Different colleges are open at different times. A great place if you prefer shooting buildings, as you say. http://www.oxford.world-guides.com/oxford_university.html
You could take photos of the Louvre Palace with I.M. Pei's pyramid in the foreground. This would be a great contrast of the old and the modern.
Ahhh. Montparnasse and Montmartre are your best bets for old-classic Parisian charm. This sounds really sick, but I did the rather ungainly thing of going to the Montparnasse cemetery. I was actually going to take a picture with me posing next to Sartre's grave and wearing a grin like a Cheshire Cat. But thought against it. But then, I thought of old JP's existentialist thoughts on the individualistic view of man and then snapped away. The underground stations are awesome for some great shots. I think Moscow has a better Metro though. btw: Didn't know you went to Jussieu...very nice. I'm a more of an arts and humanities Sorbonne man, myself.