Under a grey Paris sky, a mysterious man slowly climbs the weathered steps of Montmartre. His long dark coat moves gently with each step, his hat pulled deeply over his face as if he prefers to stay in the shadows - or be part of them himself. The old lamppost beside him seems to guide him, like a silent sentinel over a story set somewhere between past and desire.
The facades around him watch silently, as if they have known for some time that he would one day appear here. Where does his path lead? Is he looking for something he has lost, or is he just trying to leave something behind? In this corner of the city, where time sometimes seems to slow down, the man moves on without looking back once.
For this photo, I deliberately used digital processing to evoke exactly that atmosphere: the melancholy of a rare silent moment in a city that rarely stands still, and the mystery of a passer-by who appears for a moment and disappears again in the Parisian silence.
Created by Geert Van Baelen with support from AI.
Geert Van Baelen has been working as a press photographer in Belgium for over 20 years. Besides current affairs, he also finds inspiration for his images in everyday life, landscapes and people... Read more…