Desert in The City: Long Exposure Night Photography

Genaro Bardy is an advertising consultant turned freelance photographer, filmmaker and story-teller currently lives and works in Paris, France. With his latest project “Desert in the City”, Genaro portrays the big cities of the world as a ghost town — without any tourists or commuters in sight. “Last year I was looking for a way to create a series of pictures that would make a beautiful portrait of my beloved Paris, where I live,” he says. “I thought of photos of New York I had done just before Irene hurricane back in 2011. Streets were totally empty during the curfew and I had the chance to wander in an empty Manhattan.”

So I asked myself : how could I shoot an empty Paris ? Without people, without cars, without tourists, and still magnify the city of love. It turns out there is a moment in the year when streets are totally empty, when people are home or away, when nobody is partying all night long : that moment is Christmas.