Gezicht op Parijs met Rue de Rivoli en de Tour Saint-Jacques c. 1850 - 1880

This sepia-toned photograph offers a bird's-eye view of Paris, capturing the Rue de Rivoli and the Tour Saint-Jacques. The anonymous photographer presents a wide, almost all-encompassing gaze over the urban landscape. Paris in this era was a city undergoing massive transformations, politically and socially, as well as architecturally. The city was a center for innovation in art and science. The perspective invites us to consider who had access to these elevated vantage points, and whose stories were being told from such heights. It prompts questions about urban development and the socio-economic changes within the city. The image evokes a sense of the rapid changes and expansions within the metropolis. This photograph captures the city’s ambitions, and in doing so, reveals how progress and perspective are always shaped by the position of the observer.