Landschap met Château de Saint-Fontaine before 1890

This black and white photograph of the Château de Saint-Fontaine in Pailhe, was made by Victor Gaillard, though we're unsure exactly when. The photograph appears within the pages of a book. Images like this were used as cultural capital. The Château de Saint-Fontaine and its grounds are presented through a romantic lens. It's a sign of the growing tourism industry and the celebration of picturesque landscapes in Europe. The image itself flattens the complexities of rural life into a consumable view for the urban visitor. The printing of the photograph within a book is typical of institutional forces. It has the effect of packaging nature into a portable and digestible form. To get a clearer picture, researchers might look into travel guides and promotional materials from that era to understand the social and economic contexts that framed the consumption of rural landscapes like Pailhe.