Rue des Grands Carmes, Vue prise de la Rue Ste. Marthe, Marseille 1862

Adolphe Terris captured 'Rue des Grands Carmes, Vue prise de la Rue Ste. Marthe, Marseille' using photography. This view of Marseille, with its narrow street and weathered buildings, hints at the social realities of 19th-century urban life. Terris’s composition, with its steep perspective, draws our eye into the depths of the city, but also hints at the difficulties of navigating such an environment. The peeling posters on the walls, the darkened doorways, and the rough cobblestones speak to a working-class existence, where the beautiful Mediterranean light struggles to penetrate the harsh realities of poverty. The photograph invites us to consider the lives of those who inhabited this space, and how their identities were shaped by the urban environment. Did Terris, through his lens, aim to document or to editorialize? Perhaps, it’s in this tension that the photograph finds its lasting power.