Poissonerie, Caen 1852 - 1854

Editor: Edmond Bacot's "Poissonerie, Caen," dating back to sometime between 1852 and 1854, captures a market scene using albumen print. The tones are wonderfully muted, giving it such an atmospheric quality. It feels so still, like a scene from a dream. How would you describe your first impressions? Curator: Stillness, definitely. And light. Notice how the spire just kisses the clouds... There's almost a medieval quality here, the rigid structures meeting soft sunlight. I wonder about Bacot's intent... was he just documenting, or trying to freeze a feeling, an essence of Caen itself? What feelings come to mind for you, gazing at those stoic buildings? Editor: That stillness really emphasizes the architecture. It also strikes me as surprisingly modern in some ways, with those strong horizontal lines of the fish market contrasting against the vertical spire. Curator: Precisely! That contrast... think of it as a visual dialogue between progress and tradition. A tension Bacot maybe didn't consciously stage, yet captured so vividly! Is that perhaps where that dreamy quality originates? A kind of soft-focus paradox? Editor: Maybe! And that tension gives the image a timeless quality too. What I initially thought was simple documentation feels like a conversation, a complex dance between different elements of the city. Curator: That’s photography at its best, isn't it? Revealing layers beneath the surface, inviting our imaginations to wander and find echoes of ourselves within a moment frozen in time. Bacot... he gives us more than just a picture. He gives us a feeling.