Photos in Paris are always irresistible, whether you come to snap the sites or worship the greats. Now, for the month of November, a quartier central to the photo’s role will celebrate it. The Festival of the Photo in St.-Germain-des-Prés features four-dozen venues showing works around the theme of image, writers, and writing.

The theme is appropriate. From the rabble-rousing pamphlets of the Revolution through its postwar existentialists, St.-Germain was always a mecca for the literati. The idea is so rich, in fact, that it will be broken down further. Some spaces are showing photographs that “illustrate” works (such as an homage to St.- Exupéry, author of Le Petit Prince). Some are mining vintage photos in Paris for portraits of writers (rare shots of Oscar Wilde will be at L’Hôtel, where he died in 1900). There are collaborations between writers and photographers and there are portfolios inspired by texts both modern and classic.

The festival, which was the idea of the area’s art merchants, runs all month. As well as the 50-plus galleries, additional host sites include the Chapelle des Beaux-Arts, Institut de France, Romanian and Czechoslovakian Cultural Centers, Hungarian Institute, Académie des Beaux-Arts, and University of Paris Descartes. Many cafés and bookstores plan their own informal shows.

>more