Visiting Michael Fink is like visiting a curmudgeonly uncle with a hoarding disorder; you can barely see his diminutive figure behind the endless piles of books and magazines, and any question you ask is met by a great heaving sigh. At Comptoir de l’Image, Fink’s tiny shop focusing on photo books and collectible magazines, truculence is armor and bibliomania a talent. He has been running the business since 1993, and deeply loves every one of the two thousand editions that the shop has to offer. A quick glance at a stack of back issues of Vogue Paris, for example, and Fink could tell you which guest editors he does or doesn’t have in stock: “I don’t have Polanski anymore, but you might find the Orson Welles one at the bottom of the pile.” Located at 44 Rue de Sévigné, in the heart of the historic Marais district, Comptoir de l’Image is a perfect pit stop between Musée Carnavalet and Galerie Perrotin, or between Musée Picasso and Maison Européenne de la Photographie. Comptoir de l’Image 44 Rue de Sévigné 75003 Paris France TwitterFacebookPinterest This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Seven Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 19 Going Incognito We all secretly wonder what mischief we’d make if invisible: When our identity is hidden, everything seems possible. Arts & Culture Issue 19 The Best Policy Sometimes we talk to each other without feeling heard. Honesty—a most intimate interaction—can be just as thrilling as its more devious inverse. Arts & Culture Issue 19 A Sense of Suspense With unhinged imaginations and mountains of cliff-hangers, the filmmakers behind the sci-fi podcast Limetown have all the makings of a scary story. Arts & Culture Issue 19 Like Clockwork In this new column about time, we learn how slipping off our watches makes us feel like deadline-damning renegades. Fashion Issue 19 Camille Tanoh Camille Tanoh found his niche working for Pierre Hardy and Paul Smith. Now he’s blazing a path for the next generation of French designers. Design Issue 19 David Rager David Rager, co-founder of design firm Weekends, shares his tale of LA and Paris and how he makes time for life’s little distractions.
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