Artist Josué Thomas presents a photographic project titled I Paris (quand ce n’est pas la fashion week). It is a meditation on the city, focusing on the life that exists beyond its most famous events.

The work began without a plan. Thomas was simply taking pictures, with no intention of making a book. The resulting collection questions a common assumption: that Paris is only animated, creative, and international during Fashion Week. Having moved from the United States to Europe, Thomas reflects on how a change of place can reshape what you see. In this work, a sense of calm is not emptiness. It is a kind of energy.

Creativity, he suggests, appears in the intervals between major events. It surfaces when daily habit gives way to clear perception. Thomas’s Paris is full of life, even when the world’s attention has moved on. This is not a rejection of Fashion Week, but a counterpoint to it. A reminder that creative energy exists outside any official schedule.

The book is 166 pages, printed in Paris as a limited edition of 100 copies. The launch will be held on Saturday, October 4th, at ART THAT KILLS Records, which is GALLERY DEPT’s space in the Marais. For the event, the space will host a pop-up with a selection of new and vintage books that connect with Thomas’s work, alongside an exclusive t-shirt featuring the book’s typography.

The pop-up will be open to the public from October 5th to 10th.