Framing a View

Three cranes frame a section of sky near Gare d’Austerlitz.

 

 

A glazed window unit, ready to slot into place on the building site, frames reflections and transforms views.

 

 

Frames make some windows on this building across the street stand out from the crowd.

These pictures were taken today in Paris, a calm sunny day in a country once again thrown into mourning and a state of emergency by an act of terror.  As always, for those not directly affected, traumatised, bereaved or injured, life goes on.

The use of an ordinary white van as a weapon of mass murder is a stark reminder of how daily life relies on good faith and trust.  Any vehicle, any kitchen knife, any cobble stone can be a weapon but the vast majority of people would never consider using them as such.  Most people most of the time can be trusted to act in a way that protects other people rather than harming them.  In Nice last night the trust of thousands of people was horribly betrayed, leaving over 80 dead and hundreds injured.

Framing a view can help to simplify a complicated world but it can also mislead and confuse.   Ordinary citizens don’t deliberately drive into crowds of helpless people so it’s more comfortable to view the Nice attacker through a frame labelled  ‘terrorist’ as someone inspired, led or radicalised by distant fanatics.  As French politicians argue about whether the attack could have been prevented, that neatly framed view may be a dangerous distraction.