Enseigne d'un Marchand de Chevaux Possibly 1842 - 1965

Hippolyte Bayard made this photograph, Enseigne d'un Marchand de Chevaux, with paper and a camera. It’s all about light and shadow. Look closely at the textures and shapes of the buildings. It’s so cool how he captured all those tiny details, like the lines of the shutters and the rough surfaces of the walls. The overall effect is strangely painterly. I’m drawn to the way the arch frames the scene. The darkness of the arch is a really strong graphic element, and I like how that darkness really pushes you into the light filled depths of the image. To me the picture seems to be making a point about contrasting light and shadow, but the way it’s structured stops you from resolving the two. It reminds me a little bit of what Eugène Atget was doing around the same time, documenting everyday scenes in Paris. They both had this way of finding beauty in the mundane and inviting viewers to look at the world in a fresh way.