Gezicht op Place de la Concorde in Parijs met een fontein en de Luxor obelisk c. 1850 - 1880

This stereoscopic photograph of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, depicts the location with a fountain and the Luxor obelisk. Though anonymous, it was undoubtedly made with advanced photographic techniques for its time, involving careful calibration of lenses and light-sensitive materials, likely a silver-based emulsion on a glass plate, to capture a high level of detail. The image is a product of its time. With the advent of photography, a burgeoning visual culture grew parallel to the industrial revolution, and images like this fed into the new modes of production and consumption. Think about the labor involved, from the skilled chemists perfecting the photographic process to the mass production of prints. The level of resolution is particularly striking. The very act of capturing such a detailed image of Paris, and reproducing it for a mass audience, speaks to the democratizing power of technology. Photography was once considered a craft, but with images like these, it's hard not to see the making involved. This challenges the distinctions between fine art and craft.