Our minds have an interesting way of preserving the past, remembering select details that over time may or may not be accurate to the real situation. The feelings of events stick with us, good and bad and our ability to remember the finer nuances of things blends out as time pushes forward. Photos often work in the same way, holding on to the way something was and freezing along with it the feeling of the place and time it was taken.

This picture makes it hard for us to imagine the canal and its surrounding space as anything other than an open span of grass and small pathways for gathering and lounging. Everything about this image is leisurely and informal. Even the car pulled up close seems to be the result of someone’s desire to get to relaxing that much faster. When we look at this picture long enough, this is what the place becomes to us, and for those who were there it’s probably what the space will always be in their mind.

In reality, the areas around the canals of Paris have transformed along with the city over the decades. Businesses and carefully landscaped parks hug in close to the waterway’s winding paths. Visitors from all over the world gather along these waterways to talk, walk, and enjoy a scenic view in the middle of city life. Yet in this world there are still people that remember the canals of old, their memories just as enjoyable as the new ones being made each day. The ability of photos to hold those memories for us eternally, even ones simply of our favorite place to enjoy a sunny city day, is what makes them something truly special.