Siamese Boats On the Seine River

Two barges, TEMPO and VESTA, lashed together as if bound by some unspoken pact, making their way up the Seine. Seen from above, their pairing creates a symmetry that is almost architectural. The way their bows slice the water in unison feels more like choreography than navigation.

The shot was taken from a bridge, directly aligned with their approach, which allowed me to keep both vessels centred and parallel in the frame. That alignment is crucial — a slight offset would have made the composition feel off-balance. Here, the geometry holds everything together: two hulls, two decks, two names, and a doubling of anchor motifs.

The light was soft but bright enough to pull out the turquoise and red accents without pushing saturation in post. I exposed to preserve detail in the white water wake, which meant keeping a close eye on the highlights in the vessel names. Shadows on the decks remain readable, revealing ropes, hatches, and other working details without losing contrast.

From a technical standpoint, the perspective compression helps — the slightly longer focal length flattens the scene just enough to accentuate the “joined at the hip” look. The water’s texture in the background, with its varying shades of green and hints of white foam, frames the barges naturally, preventing the eye from wandering.

What makes the image work, to my mind, is its balance of documentary and abstraction. It’s a record of a moment on the river, but also a graphic study in symmetry, colour, and form. The Seine provided the stage, the barges the performance — I was just lucky enough to get the best seat in the house.