Jules Gervais-Courtellemont (1863–1931) was a French photographer who was famous for taking color autochromes during World War I. He was born near Fontainebleau in Avon, Seine-et-Marne, south of Paris. Courtellemont emigrated with his parents in 1874 to Algeria, and remained there for 20 years. He became a globetrotter, always in search of something special andContinue reading “30 Stunning Color Photographs of Paris in 1923”
Category Archives: France
This Is Marie Antoinette’s Shoe She Wore Before Her Execution on October 16, 1793
This is the shoe Marie Antoinette lost on the stairs as she was going up toward the guillotine on the morning of her execution on October 16, 1793. She lost her shoe, then she lost her head! The shoe is now in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen, France. Marie Antoinette (NovemberContinue reading “This Is Marie Antoinette’s Shoe She Wore Before Her Execution on October 16, 1793”
27 Amazing Photos of French People Posing in Front of Their Boulangeries During the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
France is world famous for its delicious baking. If you love bread, you can find a bakery or, as the French call it, a boulangerie, on almost every street corner. The smell of fresh-baked bread alone can tempt you into the boulangerie and when you’re inside, you are met with the sight of many doughyContinue reading “27 Amazing Photos of French People Posing in Front of Their Boulangeries During the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries”
Candid Photographs of Alberto Giacometti at Work in His Studio in Paris, 1958
Alberto Giacometti was born in Switzerland to an artistic family in 1901. His father was post-Impressionist painter Giovanni Giacometti; his father’s second cousin was Symbolist painter Augusto Giacometti; and his godfather Fauvist Cuno Amiet. In addition to his three younger siblings, two of Alberto’s cousins were raised in his family home after they became orphaned.Continue reading “Candid Photographs of Alberto Giacometti at Work in His Studio in Paris, 1958”
35 Old Postcards Showing Rural Life in Brittany, France From the 1900s
Brittany is a peninsula, historic country and cultural region in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period of Roman occupation. It became an independent kingdom and then a duchy before being united with the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province governed asContinue reading “35 Old Postcards Showing Rural Life in Brittany, France From the 1900s”
Photograph of a Woman Seen From the Back, ca. 1862
Woman Seen From the Back is an 1860s photograph by 19th-century French photographer, Vicomte Onesipe Aguado de las Marismas (1830–1893). It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was purchased by the Museum in 2005 as part of the Gilman Photographs Collection. Onesipe Aguado was the youngest of three brothers bornContinue reading “Photograph of a Woman Seen From the Back, ca. 1862”
Vinification: Wonderful Color Photographs Capture the Process of Turning the Grapes Into Wine in Burgundy, 1958
Burgundy is home to some of the most expensive wines in the world, including those of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leroy, Henri Jayer, Domaine Leflaive and Domaine Armand Rousseau. Its renown goes back many centuries; in 1522 Erasmus wrote: “O happy Burgundy which merits being called the mother of men since she furnishes fromContinue reading “Vinification: Wonderful Color Photographs Capture the Process of Turning the Grapes Into Wine in Burgundy, 1958”
Vintage Photos of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1963
Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean near the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is the remaining vestige of the once vast territory of New France. Its residents are French citizens; the collectivity is a full member of the NationalContinue reading “Vintage Photos of Saint Pierre and Miquelon in 1963”
40 Amazing Photos Showing Prostitution in Paris in 1966
Prostitution in Paris, both street prostitution and prostitution from dedicated facilities has a long history but also its own modernity in the French capital. Prostitutes are mostly women but also include transgender people and men. Of men born between 1920 and 1925, one in five had experienced his first sexual relationship in a maison-close. ParisContinue reading “40 Amazing Photos Showing Prostitution in Paris in 1966”
One of the Most Popular Tourist Attractions in Paris in the 19th Century was The Paris Morgue
Today, Parisians and tourists from around the world flock to visit the dozens of magnificent monuments and museums housed by the capital, in search of the legend of the Eiffel Tower, the richness of the collections of the Musée d’Orsay, or the art of living of covered passages. But there are more than a century,Continue reading “One of the Most Popular Tourist Attractions in Paris in the 19th Century was The Paris Morgue”
Yesterday Today 