The "Wall-Walker" of Montmartre: Le Passe-Muraille Photography

While wandering through Montmartre, Paris, we came across this chap stuck in a wall. At first glance, I thought I’d stumbled onto a stone Freddy Krueger.

As it turns out, the art piece (I hesitate to call it a statue since it’s halfway up a wall) depicts the story “Le Passe-Muraille” (The Wall-Walker) by the writer Marcel Aymé, who lived right here in this famous Parisian district.

The story is a bizarre one: a man discovers he can walk through walls, leading to a series of hijinks involving petty crime and escaping prison. His demise is even stranger; a doctor gives him a "cold remedy" that unknowingly cures his wall-walking ability. He tried to walk through this wall for one last time just as the medication kicked in, leaving him trapped forever in the stone. There is clearly plenty of symbolism to unpack there.

As for the "Krueger hand"—if it isn’t obvious by the shine, it’s a local tradition. Despite the character being tragically unlucky, rubbing his hand is supposed to bring good luck. If you’re in Paris and need a bit of fortune, head to Montmartre and rub the hand; it has to be luckier for you than it was for him.

From a photography perspective, the difficulty here is finding an angle that captures the drama of being "stuck." I found that a profile shot worked best to show the depth of the figure emerging from the stone, but you can be the judge of the result.

Photography Notes:
Location: Place Marcel-Aymé, Montmartre, Paris, France.
Subject: "Le Passe-Muraille" sculpture by Jean Marais.
Composition: Side-profile to emphasize the three-dimensional "stuck" effect.