Eau & Gaz à tous les étages keychain

Modern Luxury

There was a time when this deserved an announcement.

EAU & GAZ À TOUS LES ÉTAGES.

Water and gas on every floor.

Today, it makes us smile.

At the time, it was almost a promise of modern life.

A useful, proud, serious sentence telling passersby: here, progress has climbed all the way to the top floor.

I photographed the inscription because these are exactly the traces I love. The ones that tell the story of Paris quietly. Not the grand monuments, but what clings to the walls, survives renovations and crosses the years.

A patch of paint.

An old sign.

A few letters.

And suddenly, an entire piece of history.

Photographing What Remains

When I walk through Paris, I often look above eye level.

On façades, words sometimes remain longer than shops, longer than residents, longer than the purpose they once served.

I photograph them to keep them.

Then some leave the wall.

They become fabric, objects, souvenirs.

This time, Eau & Gaz à tous les étages became a keychain.

It is made in Paris, which feels rather appropriate: the inscription has stayed at home. It has simply changed jobs.

A Change of Career

Once, it advertised water and gas.

Now, it carries keys.

A successful career change.

The keychain accompanies a set of keys, can also be attached to a bag or pouch, and becomes a small souvenir of old Paris without requiring an Eiffel Tower or a perfectly behaved postcard.

For lovers of old buildings, urban details, hidden stories and inscriptions noticed only when you remember to look up.

EAU & GAZ À TOUS LES ÉTAGES.

Water not included.

Gas not included either.

Keys, yes.

Photographed in Paris. Designed in Paris. Made in Paris.