Jardin du Luxembourg met op de achtergrond de toren van de Saint-Sulpice, Parijs c. 1851 - 1880

This card, of the Jardin du Luxembourg with the tower of the Saint-Sulpice in Paris, was made through photography, a relatively new medium at the time. With its sepia tones and stereoscopic presentation, the card evokes a sense of nostalgia, and hints at the rapidly changing social fabric of the late 19th century. Photography democratized image-making, and in turn, consumption. Suddenly, views previously only available to the wealthy could be bought as commodities, creating a culture of mass media. The card itself becomes a souvenir of sorts, a physical memento of a time and place consumed through industrial reproduction. While the subject is ostensibly the Jardin du Luxembourg, the true story of this photograph lies in its material, production, and its value as a symbolic artifact of a changing world. It invites us to consider the relationship between image-making, labor, and the rise of a consumer society.