Bovenaanzicht van Île Saint-Louis in Parijs, Frankrijk before 1886

This image of Île Saint-Louis in Paris was made by Gaston Tissandier, and it appears to be a photogravure, a kind of early photographic printmaking. Look closely and you'll notice the fineness of the lines, like an architectural drawing. But how was it made? Well, the key is right there in the book's title, *La Photographie en Ballon*, which roughly translates to Photography in a Balloon. So the image was taken from above, likely from a hot air balloon using a camera and then transferred onto a printing plate. In the 19th century, these new technologies of photography and flight captured the imagination. Here, Tissandier combines them to provide a birds-eye view of the city. This wasn't just about documenting the city; it was about seeing it in a new way. Consider the labor involved – not just the photographer, but the balloonists, the printers, and the publishers. They were all part of a vast network of production, making images like this available to a growing audience.