Cascade in the Bois de Boulogne c. 1855

This photograph, Cascade in the Bois de Boulogne, materializes the unseen artistry of its anonymous maker through the photographic process. The tones and textures captured hint at a historical narrative of labor and class. The photographic print, carefully mounted, showcases a manufactured cascade in the Bois de Boulogne. The process involved sensitizing paper with chemicals, capturing the image via a lens, and then developing the print. The tones achieved through chemical reactions lend depth to the water's flow and the rocks' rough texture. Photographs like these were not merely documents; they offered carefully constructed views of leisure for a rapidly industrializing society. The image is not just about nature, but about the staging of nature. This photograph speaks to the labor involved in shaping landscapes for leisure, subtly underscoring the divide between the working classes who built these scenes, and the bourgeoisie who enjoyed them.