Excavations for the Gare de l'Est
SOLD August 2000 |
Gelatin-silver print roughly 6.5 x 9 inches (17x23 cm) depicting phase in the construction of the Paris Metro. On heavy mount 10.5 x 13 inches (27x35 cm).Titled on the mount: Station "Gare de l'Est" / Ouvrage commun aux Lignes Nos 5 et 7 / 24 Mai 1907". Damage along lower edge of mount.
New Yorkers find it newsworthy when water mains are found in use which date from the 19th century, but in the 19th century components of the Paris sewers were in use which had been constructed around 1412, and which thus predated the discoveries of North and South America. Already a thriving town and known in Roman times as "Lutetia," the underground of Paris is filled with millennia rather than centuries of history. (For a dramatic description see Victor Hugo's section on the Paris sewers in Les Miserables, "The Entrails of the Monster".)
Construction of the Paris Metropolitan Railway circa 1900 was thus not only a event which shaped modern Paris, but which unearthed some of the cities forgotten histories. This significant public works project was fortunately documented through a series of photographs commissioned by the city government, which are not commonly encountered. Subjects include difficult underground photography and dramatic construction views.
A set of the photographs in possession of the Paris Municipal Archives were used as illustrations in the work, Le Métro de Paris 1899-1911: Images de la Construction (1999).
