Exterieur van Les Halles te Parijs c. 1865 - 1875

Curator: This gelatin silver print, "Exterieur van Les Halles te Parijs," made by Compagnie Photographique Debitte & Hervé, probably sometime between 1865 and 1875... it breathes stillness, doesn’t it? A certain bygone era kind of silence. Editor: Absolutely. The sepia tones wash everything in a uniform light, which I think downplays the frenetic activity that must have been typical of Les Halles at that time. Look how those large pavilions loom – they signify progress, modernity, and food abundance, but they also hint at growing industrialization and urbanization, the disparities... Curator: Disparities... yes. Although, for me, there's a charm in this "exterior," almost like a theater backdrop. It's a glimpse into everyday life staged in a monumental space, somehow both intimate and distant. There's a human quality, not as idealized portraits, but these bustling common scenes made to feel larger than life. Editor: It’s strategic to consider who is visible in that photograph, who gets their image recorded and remembered. Were marginalized populations pushed further to the peripheries as cities rebuilt and redesigned during Haussmannization? Did the "plein-air" of this scene accurately capture working class Parisians who visited or worked there? These are pertinent questions. Curator: Perhaps that contrast, that staged yet genuine snapshot, adds to its mystique. And thinking of ‘plein air’—a very modern and bold approach for that period, one with a specific focus. And I’d guess a not insignificant amount of difficulty lugging camera equipment around! The determination…! Editor: Indeed. These advances were made possible due to the scientific and industrial shifts happening at the time; this photo captures the world on the cusp of great change. But it is important to recognize those changes weren't beneficial to everyone. Even in capturing this outdoor moment, it's interesting to analyze who gets centered, how public space is represented. Curator: I always wonder what the person or people behind the camera lens must have thought or felt capturing it? Did they linger at the smell of produce or watch street performers? How strange it must be for our digital eyes, now so used to taking photographic moments for granted, to examine a single work made at the painstaking close of such an effort! I just imagine that specific day, that exact slice of life and that one glorious captured view. Editor: Right. Considering those perspectives embedded in this 'snapshot' prompts critical self-reflection around issues still relevant today – the camera’s power, representation politics, who we choose to remember, how. It pushes the viewers to confront not just an exterior, but the inner machinations shaping our narratives. Curator: Agreed. So maybe in a way, despite its stillness, it continues to stir things up! Editor: Definitely!