Wisseling van de wacht in het Bois de Boulogne te Parijs in het bijzijn van H.M. koning van Beieren, Frankrijk 1857

This photograph by Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut captures a changing of the guard in the Bois de Boulogne, attended by the King of Bavaria. Dubois de Nehaut lived through a turbulent period of French history, and as such the photograph is a window into the political and social landscape of 19th-century France. The photograph, with its formal arrangement of figures, quietly speaks to themes of power, order, and national identity. Consider the Bois de Boulogne, once a royal park, now a site for public display of military might. This transition reflects broader shifts in French society, where old aristocratic structures were confronted by the rise of a new order. What does it mean to capture such a transition in a photograph? Dubois de Nehaut invites us to consider the staging of power, and in this way, the photograph subtly questions whose stories are told and whose perspectives are centered in the narrative of history. It captures a moment of transition, reflecting the complexities of a society grappling with change, memory, and identity.