Thomas Hodges' commission commemorating law firm Davis Polk's first HQ in Paris

Posted on January 27, 2008 at 1:55 PM.

Contemporary photographer, Thomas Hodges was the favourite for this commission. Thomas' excellent work has been awarded the title of "Spider Fellow" in 2006, having won prestigious "Nominee Awards" in both the 2006 and 2007 "Black and White Spider Awards", and the 2006 and 2007 "International Color Awards".

Davis Polk first arrived in France in 1962, and their very first offices, which appear in focus where situated at 4, Place de la Concorde, Paris. Upon their 2007 move to new headquarters located in the Champs Elysees in Paris, the management decided that to commemorate the occasion by commissioning a photographic artwork depicting the firm's first corporate base in France.

The only given guideline, was that the image should be "artistic" and should not resemble a tourist shot of this already very famous location. Thomas Hodges produced a series of some 30 images, from which the image entitled "Time and Motion" was selected. The image in question has been purchased as a unique "one-of-one" artwork. Printed on Kodak Endura paper behind 6mm plexiglas, using the Diasec process. The photographic lab responsible for the printing was Paris based Cyclope, and the mounting and framing was carried-out by sister company Deuxiem Oeil.

Davis Polk's excellence and breadth has made them one the world's leading law firms and the firm of choice for many of the world's leading companies and financial institutions.

This firm ranked first in a survey covering all US law firms, in which Fortune 250 law departments were asked to name the firms they rely on most in corporate transactions (Corporate Counsel, September 2006).

For more than 150 years, leading companies and financial institutions have relied on their corporate lawyers for being the world's broadest and most experienced in many seminal business transactions across a wide range of industries.

In 2006, their corporate lawyers worked on:

- the largest initial public offering in history (ICBC)
- the largest investment ever in the Chinese financial sector (ICBC)
- the largest high-yield offering ever by a European issuer (NXP)
- India's largest-ever IPO (Reliance Petroleum)
- the largest-ever completed leveraged buyout (HCA)
- and one of the largest bankruptcy filings in history (Delta Air Lines)

Their unique, team-oriented culture ensures that all necessary firm expertise and resources are employed to achieve the best possible results for their clients.

The entire "Place de la Concorde" series can be viewed on the artist's website. Aside from "Time and Motion" the other images in the series are also available for purchase. More information about Thomas Hodges can be found in our Artist Gallery.