Gezicht op de Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Parijs c. 1860 - 1880

Achille Quinet captured this stereoscopic photograph of the Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris sometime in the late 19th century. The beige hue evokes a sense of time, while the architectural details invite a close look at its formal qualities. Consider the composition, neatly divided into two identical frames that play with perspective and depth. The church's facade is intricately structured, its Gothic tower reaching upwards, juxtaposed with the horizontal spread of the building. What does this duplication and slight shift in viewpoint achieve? It mirrors how we visually perceive the world, synthesizing two images into one comprehensive view, reflecting the principles of stereoscopy. The photograph captures a moment in time, but it also acts as a cultural artifact, inviting us to reflect on the relationship between representation and reality. Photography, in its essence, documents and interprets the physical world and, in doing so, shapes our understanding of it.