Contact
Email Address: Email Me
Location: Paris, France
Biography
Tara Bradford grew up in a small town in the American South, where she read many, many books, published her own newspaper and dreamed of escaping to New York. After journalism school, she jumped on a plane to said city - where her joie de vivre was more appreciated - and never looked back.
A chance encounter led to a job as a United Nations correspondent and suddenly, she was jetting off to exotic destinations, while scrambling to understand the nuances of Middle East politics.
After many years of traveling the Middle East, Europe and the US as a journalist and writer, Tara now lives la vie Parisienne. She's wrapping up a novel - finally! - and working on two photography books.
When she's not plotting expeditions abroad, you'll find Tara wandering with her camera or writing her blog, Paris Parfait. On a typical day, she's either working on her next book or procrastinating by searching for treasure at brocantes and flea markets. Tara is passionate about politics and human rights and believes in getting involved to effect positive change.
Meanwhile, Tara is constantly learning more about photography. Chances are she's also playing hostess to friends who find Paris irresistible. After nearly nine years in the City of Light - with too many guests to count and about 10,000 visits to the Eiffel Tower - frankly, she is ready to move to Amsterdam.
But Tara is happy to travel practically anywhere and everywhere for adventure and a good story. So don't hesitate to contact her for writing or photography assignments. Her bags are packed and her passport and camera gear ready!
The "official" line:
Tara Bradford is a writer, photographer and poet and author of the Paris Parfait weblog. She is a former newspaper and television reporter, Middle East correspondent and United Nations correspondent.
Tara's photographs appear in the 2008 edition of the Blue Guides book "Art/ shop/ eat Paris." Her photographs also appear in The English Home magazine and on the cover of It's for Your Benefit magazine in Alberta, Canada, as well as Chez les filles, Paris.
In 2008, Paris Parfait was the focus of study for two courses at universities in Georgia and Arizona. Paris Parfait has been featured in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Oregonian, The Albuquerque Journal, Crooks and Liars political blog, 52 Projects, CNN.com, Univision.com, Redroom.com, Open Salon, Topix and Wikio, as well as numerous other websites. Paris Parfait was featured in the Women, Power and Politics online exhibition at the International Museum of Women in San Francisco.
In 2009, Paris Parfait was named in Budget Travel magazine's Top Ten Paris Expat Blogs. In 2008, Paris Parfait was named one of Blog.com's Ten Best Blogs for Francophiles. In 2007, Paris Parfait was a Share the Love Blog Awards winner and was nominated as Best Political Blog in the 2008 Blogger's Choice Awards.
Tara is a member of the National Press Photographers Association and Women in Photography. Her photographs are taken with a Sony DSLR-A900 and an array of Carl Zeiss lenses, a Nikon D80 and a Sony DLSR-A350. She also carries a pocket-sized Konica-Minolta Dimage everywhere she goes.
Tara closely follows politics and human rights issues, particularly in the US, Europe and the Middle East. She is optimistic about changes underway since the election of Barack Obama.
Tara has lived in New York, San Francisco, Santa Fe, London, Paris and Amman, Jordan, among other places. She has studied Spanish in Seville, Spain.
Silhouette (left) Oct. 14, 2009, Oxford, England. About page banner art by Vanessa Valencia. Front-page banner photographs of Paris and London department store vitrines by Tara Bradford. Unless otherwise indicated, all text and photos © Tara Bradford.
