Vue générale de la Cathédrale de Rouen 1852 - 1854

Edmond Bacot made this photograph of the Rouen Cathedral, sometime in the mid-19th century. He was working with a relatively new technique, the salted paper print, which involved coating paper with silver nitrate and salt, exposing it to light through a negative, and then developing the image. What’s fascinating is how Bacot’s chosen method emphasizes the monumentality of the cathedral. The salted paper printing process, with its variable tones, brings out the texture and age of the stone. This process captures the scale and detail of the cathedral’s Gothic architecture, emphasizing the intricate carvings and the sheer labor involved in its construction centuries before. Photography was, in its early days, often seen as a craft, a chemical process. But here, it becomes a way of documenting not just a building, but the immense social effort involved in its creation. The photograph becomes more than just a picture; it’s a record of human endeavor, a tangible link to the past, and a commentary on the relationship between labor, architecture, and time.