Gezicht op de entree en een gezicht op het bestuursgebouw van de École Nationale Superieure d'Horticulture in Versailles, Frankrijk

This undated photograph shows the entrance and administrative building of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Horticulture in Versailles, France. Its anonymous maker documents not just the architecture but also the figures populating the scene. The school represents a particular moment in the history of French institutions. As France modernized, specialist schools were established to train experts in specific fields. Here, in the late 19th or early 20th century, the study of horticulture was professionalized. We might ask what social class these students came from, and how their studies would have shaped the French landscape. The image invites us to consider the social and economic context of formal education and the hierarchies of knowledge production. What impact might these institutions have had on traditional farming practices? To understand the photograph better, we might consult archives of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Horticulture, student records, or period texts on French agriculture and education. In doing so, we recognize that our understanding of the photograph is contingent on this kind of institutional and social history.