Gezicht op de Rue Montmartre te Parijs c. 1850 - 1875

Curator: This gelatin-silver print offers a vista onto Parisian life during the latter half of the 19th century. This image, entitled "Gezicht op de Rue Montmartre te Parijs," is attributed to the London Stereoscopic Company, dating circa 1850 to 1875. Editor: Ah, the city of lights! But here, shrouded in a grey veil of industry and everyday life. I sense a beautiful melancholy. The way the light etches out those carriages... It almost sings a lullaby to a bygone era. Curator: Interesting that you focus on light. The gelatin-silver printing process, particularly in this stereoscopic format, was groundbreaking. The company could mass-produce and distribute these cityscapes, impacting perceptions of modernity. It really puts the material at the forefront. Editor: Right, because the process allows it all. Still, for me, it's not the "how" but the feeling! I'm picturing horse hooves clicking, vendors hawking goods... All flattened and captured with this almost brutal honesty. Like looking at an old friend through foggy glasses. Curator: Consider that many found these photographs didactic. The medium was harnessed to build and broadcast social and political ideologies in the age of industrialization, impacting tourism and consumerism alike. Editor: Yes, perhaps... and I can almost smell the horses on the streets! Sorry, back to those buildings looming either side, so regimented, you could slice cheese with them. The overall feel for me is both intimate and alienating, a feeling anyone walking these modern streets experiences even now. Curator: Exactly, it mirrors both material conditions of modernization and the resulting transformation of perception. Before, painting had the burden to show depth, and this challenges such standards. Editor: Right you are, I do get carried away. It does reveal that, despite all the hustle, some moods refuse to budge. Like Paris itself. Curator: In that light, it is rewarding to examine the societal context embedded in something as deceptively simple as a street view in photography. Editor: I agree. It seems to have captured a moment that echos, doesn't it? Like we're standing in the ghostly echo of a dream.