07 March, 2016
As a British photographer living on Place des Vosges in Paris, Anouska Beckwith is the perfect guide to the (upscale) bohemian dream that is the neighbourhood of Le Marais. Known in particular for her nude photographs, Anouska often shoots the natural world and focuses on the cycles of life and death, of rebirth and transformation.
Anouska is also the founder of the all-female artists' collective World Wide Women, and the group has recently exhibited at the Ritual exhibition curated by Andi Potamkin at Cob Galleries in London. Anouska continued to promote female empowerment and equality within the contemporary art world at her solo show Transcendence at Three Squares Studio in New York, which featured one of her muses, the musician Flo Morrissey. Anouska will be travelling to Ibiza and LA for work later this year, and there's always a project on the horizon. Look out for her upcoming installation room called 'I am the other you', which will consider mankind's relationship with nature and the importance of the rainforest to our planet.
I met Anouska in her apartment, filled with prints by Egon Schiele and Yayoi Kusama alongside antiques, crystals and Buddhist icons. Wearing patterned flares and a trilby for our stroll around her neighbourhood, both Anouska's sartorial choices and lifestyle reflect a nostalgia for the 1960s and 70s. As we set off, it felt like taking the hand of a present-day Jane Birkin. Anouska led me through Le Marais, pausing in artisanal jewellery shops and healthy-living haunts like Café Pinson, where we had a matcha latte.
I love Earth Gallery, which just opened and is run by my friend Anna Pahlavi.
I love Hod Jewellery because the entire shop is so beautifully curated and the jewellery is other-worldly. You want to take everything home with you.
My favourite brunch place is Café Pinson as they do delicious food all day. My best girlfriend Flo Morrissey and I just adore it, especially for the matcha lattes.
Wild and the Moon is incredible for healthy food, drinks and sweet treats. Their granola is delicious.
I love to take photographs in Bois de Vincennes forest, because it's very wild and untouched.
I love to be outside, so I'll walk along the Seine with my dog Gigi. I sometimes head to Rasa Yoga for some yin yoga classes or gong baths. If you want deep relaxation then Les Bains du Marais is wonderful for hammam.
Gallery Da-end for contemporary art.
Soma is a wonderful tapas restaurant with Japanese fusion food.
Le China for its live music and food.
Le Mano, because my friends Cosmo Gonik and Pablo Saavedra de Decker are the DJs and it's super fun. They play a mix of Latin and rock n' roll.
La Pagode cinema with its velvet seats and Japanese tea garden.
The chocolate shop Meert is undeniably charming.
I love the Sherry Butt cocktail bar.
Mes Demoiselles with its wearable and beautiful fabrics from Asia with a fusion between Japanese and French design.
Butte Chaumont park, because there is an incredible waterfall and lots of romantic little spots. Flora Alexandra Ogilvy is the founder of Arteviste.com