- florian verweij, pianist -

Photo Hans van der Woerd

Shooting the album cover in Paris

For my debut album Sonorités de Paris Hein Wiedijk (Gutman Records), photographer Hans van der Woerd and I traveled to Paris. For two days we immersed ourselves in the city of light, on the hunt for an album cover that could capture the atmosphere of the music of Franck, Fauré, [Lili] Boulanger and Roger-Ducasse.

Accompanied by Beethoven String Quartets, we arrived by car on the afternoon of 7th of July in Paris at the height of its preparations for the Olympic Games. After settling in a hotel with a view reminiscent of Un Balcon à Paris (1881) by the impressionist Gustave Caillebotte, we scouted the city for spots to photograph the following day, making a pitstop in the Jardin du Luxembourg for a quick bite and deciding the starting point of the following day, Trocadéro at sunrise.

Photo Hans van der Woerd

Before the sun showed its colours on the morning of the 8th, we rushed through Paris only to find ourselves for a closed-off Trocadero due to the Olympics’ preparations.

No problem, the Pont de Bir-Hakeim is a stone's throw away and became the new starting point of our photo tour. Securing a beautiful spot wasn't easy with a few love couples competing for it. We then made our way through Paris, shooting in iconic sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Jewish Quarter, the Louvre, and Palais Royal, along with some more tucked-away gems. Meanwhile, we refueled with espressos and croissants. In a quiet moment, Hein worked on one of his next sculptures.

In the shimmering evening light, with more than 30,000 steps now behind us, Hans shot the final photos along the Seine and conjured the Van Gogh-like image that eventually made it onto the album cover. That magical moment produced the last image of the trip, ending the day as it began: in the sparkling light.