City lights. By Margaux Pailhé

The city at night

Night in the city

I took these photos one night last November. My camera isn’t a good camera and the photos are a little out of focus but finally that’s why I chose them. I think it gives the photos some charm.

I felt a little cold though the temperature was mild. I was tired because I had finished my karate lesson. I heard the cars driving behind me. I took photos on the road near to Pompignat.

The first photo shows lights in Clermont-Ferrand, a sea of lights. The sky is particularly dark so  we see the lights clearly. The second photo is a street with some street lamps. This photo is a close up of what we see in the first photo. There is a road and it is too dark to see other things. The street lamp lights seem to float in the air...

The titles are “The city at night” for the first photo because that is Clermont-Ferrand taken at night, and “Night in the city” for the second photo because it’s nightfall.

In 1965, electricity replaced the city’s gas lights in Clermont-Ferrand. The two gas factories shut down. Nowadays, ERDF is in charge of the electricity network in a territory which is mostly rural and has a more difficult climate that most other regions. Clermont-Ferrand is a city in France which is innovative as regards the use of electricity.

I took these photos because I particularly like night lights. I find it’s a different world than during the day. For me it’s like a dream. Once, I dreamt that there was a city with a million orange and red lights, the city was like fire, it was so beautiful.

The contrast between the two photos isn’t clear because both are taken at night but the first is a panorama, we can see the city and the second is in portrait format and we can see the street and not all the city.

These photos show an important character of the city: its lights. They are essential for cars or pedestrians but they make the city more attractive for pedestrians who take the time to look around them. The city’s lights are recent in history but they have a beautiful future.

These photos evoke for me a wonderful night where anything can happen and it’s a positive feeling about the city because when we think about the city, we can say that is is dirty and ugly, but not everywhere. Sometimes we can see the city and think that it is pretty.