Gezicht op de Place de la Concorde te Parijs c. 1865 - 1875

Compagnie Photographique Debitte & Hervé captured this view of the Place de la Concorde in Paris with a photograph of approximately 98 by 154 mm, yet the specific date remains unknown. The Place de la Concorde is depicted with a striking sense of order; the sharp symmetry and precise lines reflect a moment in French history marked by efforts to rebuild and redefine its identity. Once a site of revolutionary violence—where the guillotine claimed the lives of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and countless others—it was transformed into an open public space. The obelisk at the center, a gift from Egypt, stands as a potent symbol of power and a complicated reclamation of French identity. What stories do you think are hidden within this landscape, within the stones and monuments that silently remember a turbulent past? How does this image engage with our understanding of public space, memory, and the politics of representation?