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The Boulevards of Paris

May 1843
William Henry Fox Talbot


Having arrived in Paris in May 1843 to try and market his calotype process, Talbot devoted himself to photography. This view from a window of the Hotel de Douvres at 25 Rue de la Paix appears as the second plate in his book "The Pencil of Nature". Capturing all the details of urban life with the oblique view of the boulevard, the roofs bristling with chimneys, the carriages, the gaslights, the Moorish columns of a public urinal covered in advertising posters and a sign with the word "bains", it demonstrates the validity of the new medium as a record of modern life.

Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi/ Photo: APF

Artwork Details

Artist: William Henry Fox Talbot
Title: The Boulevards of Paris
Geography: Paris, France
Date: May 1843

Medium: salt print from a calotype negative

Classification: photography
Dimensions: 16.3 x 21.5 cm
Inventory number: LAD 2011.178
Contact for images: [email protected]

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