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The Sunset that Never Ends
The story behind a photo of Paris taken during lockdown
I’ve been drawn to sunsets for as long as I remember. There’s something about those golden rays of light that I can’t get enough of.
Perhaps it’s the visual appeal of the light itself. Warm orange hues evoke a sense of safety, comfort and nostalgia of some vague halcyon days.
But due to their ephemeral nature, they also contain an inescapable tinge of sadness. For a brief period of time, the day is at its most resplendent; and then before you know it, it’s dark.
Therein lies the paradox: a sunset isn’t beautiful despite being short-lived; it’s beautiful because it is.
So what does it mean to photograph, and hence immortalise, a sunset?
Sanitary confinement
On March 18 2020, I was in lockdown on the edge of Paris. The confinement had only just begun and no one knew how long it was going to last. At the time, everyone was forced to stay inside, with only an hour outside permitted per day. And so while I was in hibernation, I decided to take photos from within the confines of my space.
At the time, I was staying at the apartment of a friend from church, having just arrived in France a fortnight earlier. The idea was that I would stay until I found a job and a place of my own. But as the pandemic raged, my plan soon went out the window, travelling farther afield than I possibly could.
My friend had a rocking horse from his childhood in Brittany. Save for a few scratches, it was still in good condition. Like many children’s toys, it had a sort of smiley face that made it look happy — a mood at odds with the angst of March.
So on my second day in enforced exile, I decided to photograph it while light was pouring into the dining room. As I would later discover, those particular rays of light only happen in spring. The sun had to be at a particular angle in the sky for the light to stream in through the window. By summer, the sun would be too high for the apartment; by winter, too low.
I was in the right place at the right time, but I would only realise it later on.
