The Changer — Glass Walls, Paper Smiles, and Currency Drained

Shot through the pane of a Paris bureau de change, this image came together almost by accident, although the structure was too rigid to call it candid. I was struck by the transactional melancholy of it all. The young man hunched behind the counter, bathed in the cold glow of LED-lit optimism, was framed perfectly by posters promising “a fabulous customer experience.” The visual irony was impossible to ignore — printed smiles all around, while the only real expression behind the glass was fatigue.

Technically, this image is about reflection and layering. The pane acts as both barrier and canvas, catching the street behind me and folding it into the interior scene. The balance between exposure levels inside and outside was delicate. I had to underexpose slightly to keep the saturation of the promotional blue from overwhelming the image, while still holding onto the dim ambient light that defines the cashier’s weary face.

Compositionally, it’s divided into clean thirds — vertical bands created by the booth’s structure. This keeps the eye moving across the scene: ad-man, worker, ad-man again. Real-life sandwiched between corporate avatars. The poster’s hyperreal messaging, “Special Today: USD $1.27 / GBP £0.79”, felt less like a promotion and more like a grim punchline.

I didn’t want this to be another anonymous cityscape. It’s an image about value — not just monetary, but human.