Fontaine Du Point Du Jour, Versailles 

Eugène Atget captured "Fontaine Du Point Du Jour, Versailles" using the albumen silver print process, a medium that suited his documentation of Parisian life and its environs during a period of immense social transformation. Atget’s lens turns to Versailles, a site laden with histories of power, aristocracy, and revolution. This image captures a sculptural group, a dog standing triumphantly over a stag. We see here an allegory of the hunt, a sport of kings. A symbol of dominance and control over the natural world. Yet, Atget, who often photographed the city's overlooked corners, focuses on this sculpture with an even-handed gaze. This is not a celebration but a study. As if the artist seems to be stripping away the monument’s intended glorification. Atget’s work invites us to reflect on the layers of history embedded in these spaces and the complex ways in which power and identity are performed and perceived.