It's been said that if you know where you're going, it's travel, and if you don't, it's exploration. When in Paris, I'm an explorer. I often don't know what I’m going to do when I get up in the morning, but I can’t wait to do it. The French have a term for it -- flâner means to stroll without apparent purpose, open to any experience, seizing upon whatever attracts your attention.

What better accessory for a flâneur than a camera? Seventeen years ago I began to turn my wanderings into a series of black-and-white photographs of the city, and I’m still working on it.  I thought it would be fun to share some of my photographs. I hope you enjoy this website.

Bill McClave | 2020

Bill McClave lives in Berkeley, California and has been taking pictures with the same Nikkormat camera for more than 45 years. The photographs in this series were made using Nikkor lenses ranging from 24 mm to 300 mm and shot on Ilford and Kodak ISO 400 films. The original prints are 6" by 9" and are printed on traditional silver paper with no digital sleight-of-hand.