Paris 1923 - epicenter of art and progress
The author of these unique historical photographs is Jules Gervais-Courtellemont. He was born in 1863 in the suburbs of Paris, grew up in Algeria and traveled around the Middle East and North Africa, photographing everything he saw.
Gervais-Courtelmont was one of the first photographers to work with autochrome— the oldest process of color photography, which was patented by the Lumiere brothers in 1903. Autochrome used potato starch granules painted with red, green and blue paint as light filters, as well as a complex development process, resulting in ghostly "dot" color photographs.
In January 1923, Gervais-Courtelmont returned to his native Paris to shoot the main sights and views of the city, living through a period of economic growth and optimism after the end of the First World War.
View of Paris from the Church of Saint-Gervais
In a corner of old Paris
Tuileries Garden
Flower market near the Place Chatelet
Opera Garnier
Workers and horses on the river bank
Classic French gardens and ponds
Saint-Etienne-du-Mont Church
Men on the island of Sita
View of the Seine
Gardens near the Senate Building
The hotel of Madame de Lamballe, a friend of Marie Antoinette
Moulin Rouge Cabaret
Colonnade and pond in one of the gardens of Paris
The Moulin de la Galette windmill in Montmartre
View of the Seine
Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxeroi
Notre Dame Cathedral
Saint-Julien-le-Povre Street in old Paris
Gardens of a large estate
A street vendor on the banks of the Seine near Notre Dame Cathedral
The Grand Palace on the Champs-Elysees
A worker sleeps by the carts with cobblestones
Trocadero Gardens and Eiffel Tower
View of the Pantheon
Street life in front of a butcher shop
Museum of Decorative Arts in the Tuileries
Flower market on the embankment of Fleur
Saint-Denis Gate
Twilight over The Seine