Architectural and urban views are among the most varied subjects of early photography. William Henry Fox Talbot’s 1845 picturesque view of the northern British city of York shows the west front of York Minster soaring above the surrounding domestic and civic architecture. Taken on an overcast day, the extremely slow calotype negative did not register any human presence in the busy streets that, as a result, appear mysteriously deserted.
Approximately ten years later Charles Marville made a series of views from the upper window of his home, looking across the city of Paris. Sensitive to only the blue spectrum of light, the skies in 19th century negatives would be massively over-exposed long before the rest of the view was properly exposed. In this view, Marville deliberately made a relatively short exposure, capturing the ephemeral form of the clouds and allowing the underexposed buildings to anchor this dramatic composition of light and dark masses.
Marville’s 1876–77 view of rue des Orties is from his civic commission to document areas of Paris that were demolished as part of Baron Haussmann’s vast scheme of modernization. A network of grand boulevards, interspersed with prominently situated historical monuments and parks, replaced the overcrowded, medieval neighbourhoods of Old Paris. Marville photographed this street from both ends before it was swept away to allow for the creation of the avenue de l’Opéra.