In preparation for our upcoming trip to Paris this month, I dug through my film archives and discovered these shots, which brought back a lot of nostalgia, so let’s take a trip down memory lane.

It was 2005, the summer after my freshman year of college. After four years of studying photography, I was a budding camera collector and Lomography fanatic. I was heading to Paris with a friend, but she bailed on me for a boy (spoiler alert: fast forward, they eventually got married, and their wedding was a blast). And that's how I ended up alone in Paris for two weeks with a backpack full of cameras.

Around this time, Lomography was gaining popularity, especially for those of us who remained committed to upholding the art of film photography (remember that back then, digital cameras were far more expensive and not nearly as impressive as they are now). Today, I'm so happy to see a new revival of film photography enthusiasts. Digital will always advance but film will never die!

My first experience with medium-format film was shooting with my beloved Holga. Lomography cameras are simple to use yet yield thrilling results - especially with double exposures.I love how funky, spontaneous, and experimental my shots are with this toy camera. And I think that colorful unpredictability perfectly represented this particular time in my life. I'd just entered that exciting yet unnerving chapter of ending high school and starting university. This is the highly anticipated yet sudden jump from childhood to adulthood. This was a time for figuring myself out and exploring new experiences.

Of the dozen or so times I’d been to France, this was the first trip on my own to the City of Light. Most 19-year-olds on their own in Paris would probably have gone wild, partying and getting into all kinds of fun trouble. But at the time, I was fully tapped into my Ameliè phase of life (IKYKY). An introverted art history nerd who was not interested in connecting with her peers if that meant chugging cheap beers in a sweaty youth hostel.

So, I spent most of my Paris days solo — wandering the streets (aka getting lost with paper maps), deep diving into art museums, pondering life, and watching the world around me with my camera in tow. I wanted to experience the Parisian ‘joie de vive’ everyone associates with this iconic city. I still remember sitting in a cafe journaling and dreaming about how cool it would be to live in Europe. I wasn't sure how, but I knew living in Europe had to be a part of my life experience. And guess what? Four years later, after university, I got a one-way ticket to Amsterdam for an adventure year that would eventually become the last 13 years of my life!

A lot has changed since my last visit (in 2019). I'm curious to see what parts of Paris still hold their authentic charm and what scenes will conjure memories of my past adventures. I look forward to shooting more medium-format film on my recently refurbished Rolleiflex. So here I am today, 19 years after my solo summer in Paris, flipping through digitized film photos in my Amsterdam apartment, unable to resist a moment of reflection and nostalgia. I'm so proud of that young woman who set off for a solo trip to Paris with a backpack full of film. She's gained twice the life experience and double in age, yet so much of her core personality has stayed the same. Here I am, still a curious gal who loves to travel and finds joy in watching the world through the lens of her camera.