Gezicht op de Eiffeltoren en het Champ de Mars tijdens de Wereldtentoonstelling van 1889, Parijs 1889

Neurdein Frères captured this photograph of the Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars during the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris. The Exposition celebrated the centennial of the French Revolution, a period of radical social and political upheaval. The Eiffel Tower itself became a symbol of modernity and progress, yet it also sparked debate about aesthetics, class, and the rapid transformation of urban life. As the city modernized, it often displaced working-class communities, a tension palpable in the contrast between the tower's soaring height and the city's sprawling base. The tower became both an emblem of national pride, and a touchstone for anxieties about a changing world. The Exposition showcased innovations in technology and art, and also served as a stage for displaying France's colonial power. This fair was a spectacle of progress, but also a complex reflection of the social and political forces at play in France at the end of the 19th century.