Eiffeltoren gezien vanaf de Seine, tijdens de Wereldtentoonstelling van 1900, Parijs 1900

This photograph by Neurdein Frères captures the Eiffel Tower from the Seine during the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. The tower, a symbol of modernity, rises above the city, juxtaposed with the flowing river, a timeless emblem of nature and the passage of time. The tower's form echoes the ancient obelisks of Egypt, structures erected to connect the earthly with the divine. Yet, unlike the obelisk's solid stone, the Eiffel Tower’s lattice-work reveals an aspiration towards lightness and progress. This echoes the collective ambition to transcend earthly bounds through technological innovation. Consider how such a structure taps into humanity's primal urge to reach the heavens. Like the Tower of Babel, it embodies both ambition and the potential for hubris, engaging our subconscious anxieties about overreach. The tower's enduring appeal rests in its ability to evoke these complex emotional states, as it remains a powerful symbol of human ingenuity, forever striving, forever reaching.