The seven images being exhibited are part of a collection, Paris Silenced, by legendary Christchurch-born Paris-based rugby writer Ian Borthwick.
He’d been commenting on a rugby Test in a radio station, in early 2020, then when he drove home via a deserted Champs- Elysees he stopped to take photos.
He subsequently realised his media pass covered the whole of France for the duration of the lockdown.
"So I started little by little going around and taking famous monuments or famous places in Paris, just to show this sort of ghostly, almost post-apocalyptic look the city had during Covid."
At one stage Borthwick was stopped by three cops in the midst of the Champs- Elysees.
As he went to get his pass from his bag, "one cop said, ‘oh, keep your hands where I can see them’, as if he had seen too many Hollywood movies or something".
He says photographers always say they want to snap the Eiffel Tower but there are too many people around.
"And then, when you go there and there’s nobody around, it’s quite scary, I mean, it’s majestic and you get a real buzz to be there, but at the same time it was quite an eerie feeling to see Paris like that."
Those viewing his photos at Angel Divine also have the opportunity to buy limited-edition images.
Meanwhile, the store will soon be hosting 18 hand-painted ceramics produced by Ukrainian fashion and homeware label GUNIA Project, which is currently exiled in Berlin.
Under the direction of Natasha Kamenska and Maria Gavryliuk, it celebrates Ukraine’s ancient folklore and history — much of it threatened by the Russian invasion — using designs by experienced artisans. Again, the pieces will be available for purchase.
