Born in Baton Rouge August 1, 1951 and moving 6 months later became the simple beginning of a nomads life. My father spent 18 years in the U.S. Air force changing addresses 9 times in my lifetime alone. My mother, a legal secretary managed to keep up with the changes and all 5 children. Retiring to Louisiana after two years in London, the European experience had already infected one of their children and I was to continue that experience to this day.

Arriving in France in 1987 with all the intentions of returning to Louisiana after a mini-tour de France on my velo (at the time, a physical possibility), I encountered torrential rains, caught a train to Paris and some years later am apparently still here. The best explanation I can find is after a life of nomads land, Paris seems to supply the sensation of constantly moving without physically having to pack and unpack every few years.

In the years that followed, it became more and more evident, from one photographic experience to another; this may be a tough act to follow. Beginning with the Commercial Section of the U.S. embassy, I have had the pleasure of working on some of the most interesting moments in the development of Franco-Anglophone relations. In 1987, the Paris Air Show was closed to U.S. participation. This year there are over 200 U.S. companies represented. And the changes continue, some years more bumpy than others.

As long as I am (still) in Paris I will undoubtedly continue to be a part of the historical documentation recording visitors like those from Philadelphia's Museum of Art present for a combined effort with the Musée d'Orsay on an exhibition of paintings by Delacroix to the Royal Family.

W.A. Dudley