Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris

Auguste-Rosalie Bisson

Louis-Auguste Bisson

c. 1853

A mid‑19th‑century albumen silver print by Louis‑Auguste Bisson that records the west façade of Notre‑Dame in Paris, made to document and celebrate the cathedral’s monumental Gothic architecture.

Seen head‑on, the photograph arrests with the façade’s measured rhythm — twin towers, a radiating rose window, a procession of sculpted kings and three deeply carved portals — all rendered in crisp tonal detail against a pale sky and a nearly empty plaza.

An example of early architectural photography, it shows how the medium began to function as a precise documentary tool that shaped public appreciation, scholarship, and efforts to preserve historic monuments.

Palette

Art Terms

Albumen silver print Photography Architecture Documentary photography Cityscape Built environment

Exhibitions

French Photographs: Daguerre to Atget

1945

Roots of French Photography

1949

Photography 1839–1937

1937

Photographs Before Surrealism

1968