Façade van een gebouw in Parijs, ontworpen door Jean-Charles Danjoy of Edouard Danjoy before 1880

Editor: Here we have "Facade of a Building in Paris," an albumen print photograph created before 1880 by Lampué et Cie after a design by Jean-Charles or Edouard Danjoy. There's something so serenely grand about it. All those windows… like watchful eyes on the city. What catches your eye the most? Curator: You know, those windows *are* rather hypnotic. For me, it's how this photo—this capture of light and shadow—almost breathes life into stone. Paris has always been a stage for dreams, hasn't it? The way the light kisses the building’s ornaments... do you think it's romanticizing architecture, or simply documenting it? Editor: I guess it could be both. It feels almost theatrical – staged for the camera. The shadows make it very dramatic. What do you mean by the 'stage for dreams?' Curator: Well, doesn't Paris always beckon artists, writers, lovers with promises of beauty and possibility? Think of the Impressionists, capturing fleeting moments, light... this photograph does something similar, fixing a moment of Parisian ambition in time. Editor: I hadn’t considered the 'ambition' of the architecture itself! I was too caught up in the feeling. It's interesting how photography, even way back then, could capture an idea, not just a building. Curator: Precisely. And isn't that what all art aspires to do? To freeze a feeling, an idea, in a way that allows others to experience it too. So, perhaps it's not just *of* Paris, but *about* Paris. Editor: Definitely food for thought, and it makes me look at this image in a new light, pun intended!