Black Paris Profiles™: Kim Powell – Part 1

A while back, I published a Facebook posting about a photo shoot that I had with Kim Powell. We wended our way from the Luxembourg Garden to the Odéon area via Saint-Sulpice Church, and had a great time along the way. In the posting, I indicated that Kim is working on a book project that I am thrilled to be a part of, and that more details about the project were soon to come. Just keep reading, and you’ll find them below! You’ll also find out a lot more about this beautiful, talented woman who calls both Paris and Connecticut home. Part 1 of a two-part interview follows.


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Kim Powell
Photo courtesy of Kim Powell
You are currently working on a photography book about African Americans in Paris. How did this come about?

Over the years, I have been asked to collaborate on number of projects related to African-American life in Paris: as a photographer, lecturer, and/or tour guide. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with both American and French university and high school students about my life journey and Paris. Recently I was asked by a group of French students what it felt like to be a living part of the African-American legacy. In all honesty, I hadn’t looked at my life from that perspective.

In a recent NY Times article “A Paris Farewell,” Amy M. Thomas wrote that “to some extent Paris will always belong to the Truffauts, Fitzgeralds, and Bernhardts of the world. But now some of my own history runs through its streets too.” This struck a chord with me. My history runs through these streets as well. I kept thinking: what about Henry Tanner, Josephine, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, or any of the others! I realized there were even more stories to be told. I’m not a writer or a scholar but I still wanted to share these stories in my way, which is through photography.

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Black Paris Profiles™ is now available on Kindle.  Only excerpts are available on this blog.

To get your copy of Black Paris Profiles™, click HERE.

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.