The Torn Posters in the Paris Metro (October 2023)
While wandering around the Paris metro, I’ve come across so many ripped posters in which a tear doesn’t take away from an image so much as add to it. That’s because when an image is ripped, not only does some of it remain, but it’s then also accompanied by at least one other image — be it a blank white poster, a light green poster or fragments of one or more posters plastered below. The juxtaposition of various images creates a visual effect that can be oddly pleasing to look at — if, that is, you bother at all to look at it.
After more than a year documenting torn posters below Paris, I thought it would be interesting to explore the different types of rips on offer. Just like the posters themselves, the rips upon them are strikingly varied in their appearances, ensuring that no two torn posters of the same ad ever look quite alike. So without further ado, here’s a list of the tears that I’ve identified:
These are rips that cut off an image in such straight fashion that you can’t help but imagine that the vandal did the deed with a pocket knife. The image appears next to a simple white or light green background that is so bare, it makes the subject(s) pop. These are my favourite types of rips, but I don’t come across them very often.
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