How many unique pictures can you take of one landmark? I wondered, really wondered, if I could get an original photograph of the the tower. Seriously, how many pictures have been take of the Eiffel Tower over the years? Thousands? No doubt. Billions probably.
Nevertheless, like the millions of shutterbugs before me, I tried anyway. I got up very early and tried anyway. I got up very early with my cool bro, elbowed my way onto a very crowded subway card and tried anyway.
To call the subway cars that we rode, “very crowded” is probably the understatement of the year. We caught the first train, on the second stop from the end of the line, and the seats were all taken and the car was nearly full, or so I thought. People continued to pack themselves in as we made stop after stop. It grew from 360 degree elbow-brushing to 360 degree sardine packing. It was tight; tighter than I have ever been enclosed with a crowd of strangers.
Not Opened Yet
Surviving
These women caught my attention. Probably immigrants, barely holding down a poorly paying job in the city. Do they know each other? Do they know anyone else in Paris? Are they alcoholics? Do they have Christ?
Sad Young Lady
Happy Young Men
I never thought of the contrast between these two pictures till I started titling them. 
The Underbelly
Tall, Slender, and Handsome
Blue and Green
“…the eye of the beholder.”
I really think the tower is elegant, timeless, and yes, beuatiful.
The above photo has been edited in photoshop. However, it is real. I really took this picture with the tower reflected in Hans’ eye, with Hans’ 60mm 2.8 macro.