Snapshots of the Past

[Demolition of the Pont Neuf] – Historic Photograph Print

[Demolition of the Pont Neuf], [between 1852 and 1855] — historic photograph
[Demolition of the Pont Neuf], [between 1852 and 1855]. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This rare historic photograph captures [Demolition of the Pont Neuf] in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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[Demolition of the Pont Neuf]

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Few stereoscopic daguerreotypes capture a Paris bridge in the middle of being torn down, and this pair shows the Pont Neuf during demolition, as the French label on its back, "Pont neuf en demolition," confirms. Completed in the early 1600s, the Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge across the Seine in Paris, so its partial dismantling in the early 1850s was a notable event. The stereoscopic format, which used two slightly offset views to create a three-dimensional effect in a viewer, was popular in the 1850s, and the pairing of that medium with a major urban project makes this an unusual record of the period's rebuilding of the city.

Created / published[between 1852 and 1855]
Medium1 photograph : stereoscopic daguerreotype.
GenreDaguerreotypes 1850-1860.Stereographs 1850-1860.
NotesWritten on label on back: No. P. Pont neuf en demolition. Purchase; Marian S. Carson; 1997; (DLC/PP-1997:105). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). Forms part of: Marian S. Carson collection (Library of Congress)
SubjectsBridges--France--1850-1860. Demolition--France--1850-1860.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,570 × 3,695 px · prints to 15 × 12 in at 300 dpi
Reference63_Demolition_of_the_Pont_1852

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