Galerij van Diana in het Palais des Tuileries te Parijs before 1880

Editor: This is an early photograph, before 1880, by Ernest Eléonor Pierre Lamy, entitled "Galerij van Diana in het Palais des Tuileries te Parijs"— the Gallery of Diana in the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It shows an opulent, long gallery space receding into the distance, sparkling with chandeliers. I am struck by its sense of captured grandeur; the way it feels like stepping back in time to witness a now-vanished world. What captures your attention? Curator: Oh, isn’t it glorious? It whisks me away, almost. This stereo card offers such a tangible link to the past, doesn't it? For me, it's the weight of history pressing down; you sense the ghosts of courtiers, the hushed whispers of political intrigue echoing within those walls. Imagine, those chandeliers reflecting candlelight, throwing shadows that dance and flicker… What stories those walls could tell! Do you get a sense of how staged these early photographs often were? Editor: That’s interesting, staged? I was so drawn in by the ‘realness’ of a photo, as opposed to a painting. What do you mean? Curator: Well, think about the exposure times then. Long! Posing stiffly for minutes at a time. But it makes me wonder: Is it truer than a painting, or just a different sort of constructed reality? Does the supposed indexicality of photography really get us closer to truth? Editor: That’s a fantastic question! It definitely complicates my view. It's both a window into the past and a carefully constructed presentation of it. The heavy stillness emphasizes how staged life, at least for the subjects who would visit here, must have been. Curator: Exactly! Perhaps a beautiful stage play. Editor: Yes, I hadn't thought of it that way! Thanks.