From Voyeur to Friend Diptych

New York City can be like living in a fishbowl if you don’t pull down the shades. Artist Vincent Mahé’s illustration sets the scene for The Times Opinion article, “From Voyeur to Friend,” about a neighbor who couldn’t help but look at the goings-on across the street.

The article, by Valerie Monroe and Sydney Stern, two previously anonymous neighbors, was published July 29, 2017. “They didn’t like to cover their floor-to-ceiling windows … they had beautiful views,” wrote Ms. Monroe about a couple who usually disrobed at night. “I didn’t spend all my time peering at them, but rather couldn’t avoid seeing them when I gazed out. But now that they knew I could see them, I, too, felt self-conscious, like an unwanted houseguest. The trouble was, I was in my own house.”

An invitation from her neighbors to their book party then changed the dynamics, but not the bond that had been forged.

Vincent Mahé is a Paris-based artist. His rich, yet simple
,“ligne claire” style depicting candid little people in cities is recognizable among many. He likes to mix his passion for architecture with his love for narrative arts in his images, with emphasis on composition and framing. He has published several books and albums, including a no-word graphic novel, “750 Years in Paris,” the story of a Parisian block through the ages. Mahé clients include The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Nobrow, Revue America, Revue XXI, Google, BMW, Eurostar, Tylco and the Paris Tourist Office. His work has been exhibited in Paris multiple times.