Paris in color
A rare perspective on the City of Lights
Alex Q. Arbuckle
January 1923
Jules Gervais-Courtellemont was born in 1863 outside Paris, in the province of Seine-et-Marne, but grew up mostly in Algeria. A restless traveler and seeker of exotic sights, he roamed throughout the Middle East and north Africa, from Morocco to Turkey. He even traveled as far as India and China, photographing as he went. In 1894, he converted to Islam, and soon thereafter made the pilgrimage to Mecca. He returned with some of the earliest known photographs inside the holy city, which were published in L’Illustration in 1897. Gervais-Courtellemont was one of the first masters of Autochrome, an early color photography process. Patented in 1903 by the famous Lumière brothers, Autochrome used a layer of potato starch grains dyed red, green and blue, along with a complex development process, to produce a dreamy, pointillist color transparency.The long exposure times necessary for the process meant it was only suitable for relatively static scenes. Nevertheless, Gervais-Courtellemont stuck with the format when he returned to France to document World War I. His photographs are some of the only color records of the conflict. Renowned for his precise composition, attention to detail, and painterly use of light and color, Gervais-Courtellemont became a photographer for National Geographic. He continued to travel and give lectures on photography. In January 1923, he photographed landmarks and scenes throughout Paris, a city experiencing a period of economic growth and optimism following the end of World War I.
He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime. - Victor Hugo
As an artist, a man has no home in Europe save in Paris. - Friedrich Nietzsche
For a painter, the Mecca of the world, for study, for inspiration and for living is here on this star called Paris. Just look at it, no wonder so many artists have come here and called it home. Brother, if you can't paint in Paris, you'd better give up and marry the boss's daughter. - Alan Jay Lerner
