Capturing the in-between moments of the Paris Olympics

This summer, the world’s elite athletes and their entourages gathered in Paris for the Olympic Games, bringing with them the inevitable hoards of press and spectators. As they flooded in, Parisians left in droves, eager to escape the overcrowded city in the grip of Olympic fever. While the ceremony and high drama of the Games played out in the stadiums and venues across Paris, what was the atmosphere like in the city? What was the feeling across the many boulevards and arrondissements?

Despite being based between Los Angeles and Berlin, photographer Miriam Marlene has spent a great deal of time in Paris over recent years, taking pictures for fashion week and visiting friends. This summer, she was drawn back to the city, not so much for the Olympics but from a curiosity about what changes would be wrought in Paris as it played host to the epic sporting event. “I explored the city to capture the essence surrounding the venues,” she tells Dazed, “the quiet moments, the lead up to and the aftermath of the events.” Away from the spectacle of the competitions, Marlene trained her camera on the in-between moments – the queues, the Metro, the hanging around, and the Olympic detritus.

From a group of policemen lounging around eating lunch, to teenagers wandering around the Champ de Mars and an impromptu game of basketball, Marlene’s pictures of Paris depict surprisingly serene scenes. The overarching mood was far from what she expected to encounter. “Paris felt relatively empty, contrary to my expectations of it being overrun with crowds,” she recalls. “Most Parisians seemed to have gone on holiday, leaving mainly tourists. It was interesting to witness a shift away from the typical fashion-centric vibe and observe people wearing sportswear.”

Whether it be fashion, editorial or documentary street photography, Marlene has an eye for the absurd. Her pictures are undercut by humour, irreverence and the desire to mix seemingly incongruous styles and signifiers. She’s drawn to the fusion of “dreamy and punk aesthetics, or combining creepy elements with romance”. Her photographs of Paris display this instinct. The opulence of Paris and the grandeur of the Olympics is undercut – not disrespectfully – by the kitsch of tourist merchandise and other pop culture relics and symbols. “I’m drawn to capturing subcultures… people at goth music festivals or diehard fans of various music groups,” she says. “I also experience different fixations, from McDonald’s – ironically, despite not being a fan – to my current interest in historical costumes and folklore.” 

From among her pictures of Paris, the one that stands out to her is the portrait of two friends watching the Olympic flame together. “The cauldron stands near the Louvre at the Jardin des Tuileries,” she recalls. “They were both really sweet and excited that I took their photo. In a city where not everyone welcomed being photographed, their openness was refreshing.”

Visit the gallery above for a closer look.