MEP: Joel Meyerowitz

I visited the Maison Europeeane de la Photographie in the Marais for the first time on Wednesday evening (it's free on Wednesday nights from 5-7:30pm). I went with a French friend, Philippine, who runs the So Cute So Culture blog (a good girl to know), to see a new exhibition by award-winning American photographer, Joel Meyerowitz that's on until 7th April. His photos are mesmerising - from his early black and white work on the streets of New York to his vivid portraits from the 60s onwards - he managed to beautifully document the quirks of city life. And then there are the harrowing shots of the 9/11 carnage. I was surprised to learn that he was the only photographer to be granted unrestricted access - because the firemen, workers and police insisted - to photograph 'Ground Zero' post 9/11. He spent days immersed in the aftermath and building personal relationships with the men and women involved in cleanup - the results are a sensitively captured archive of the event.

As we walked around Philippine explained that Parisians are going a little crazy for all things American - like London there are burger joints springing up all over the place (I'll do an edit of the best burgers soon), and now Paris even has its first food truck - the Cantine California, which apparently serves the best burgers in Paris, but I've yet to sample them. So the trend is obviously leaking into Paris' culture - a big Edward Hopper exhibition just finished at the Grand Palais and now there's Meyerowitz. Either way, this is one to check out - and make sure you go on a Wednesday evening if you can, to avoid paying.