Background information
The out-of-print photo volume 'Paris on Foot' by Roger MELIS (1940-2009), first published in 1986, was the first illustrated book by an East German photographer who told of life in a foreign city using street photography alone. With a print run of 40,000 copies, it has become a true cult book. The pictures were taken in April 1982 when Roger MELIS was allowed to travel to the Seine for four weeks. Day after day he wandered through Paris on foot in order to use the famous photographs of this place of longing to create a picture of the city that corresponded to his own credo.
Content
Roger MELIS was not looking for sensations, but tried to portray normal everyday life on the streets of Paris. That is probably why the photographs had such a strong impact in the GDR and encouraged people's desire to break the walls and travel.
Additional information
The first edition appeared in 1986 in a total of two editions as a paperback edition and contained a text by Stefan Hermlin. The here displayed, new edition is based on a renewed review of the entire picture material and combines the best photographs from the first edition with 30 previously unpublished photographs from the estate. Instead of the original text, two articles by Sonia Voss and Mathias Bertram round off the beautifully printed edition.