Devant la Madeleine
Photo by Kidist P. Asrat
ca. 1980
*"Devant la Madeleine" can mean physically in front of the church, or before (praying to) Saint Mary Magdalene.
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I took this photograph in Paris with one of those instamatic Kodak cameras. That was before I got fancier cameras, and studied photography.
It is tinted sepia because of the years, and because those Kodak films were not really of very high quality. But the rounded corners of the picture give it a better look than the hard edged prints we get today from the photo developers.
I'm standing in front of the Église de la Madeleine. The huge columns of the church are difficult to take, and actually not very interesting. I have many photos of the columns from various angles, but I don't like any of them.
I took this image because of the distant obelisk of the Place de la Concorde and the dome of the Hôtel des Invalides. The triangular Palais Bourbon lies in between. And the grand French Beaux Arts buidings are on either side. The French flag is flying on a pole at the corner of Rue Royale. I somehow processed all this in the brief amount of time I stood there (probably five to ten minutes).
I took the railings in front of the church to indicate that I was taking the image from the church.
I think the people and cars add character to the image (although I couldn't control them, and I probably wished they were not around). A couple of daring men are trying to cross the street (the avenue), and tiny cars are milling about (there's a deux chevaux citroen in red, which I think is now extinct), and they don't look like they're traveling very fast.
I suppose this view has been seen by many, and taken by tourists as well as professionals. And mine is just a drop in the bucket.
Below is a Wikipedia reproduction of the same spot, at a slightly different angle - it is more "head on" and I think more boring. I thought (and I think correctly) that taking the photo at an angle slightly away from the distant focal point would make it more interesting. I also probably wanted a more complete shot of the nearby building including its front and its side, rather than just a long shot of its side.
Mid-way down the Rue Royale, at 10:51 on the 10th of August 2000
Photo: J.M. Schomburg
The above photograph looks like it was taken in the early morning, hence the lack of pedestrians, and the very few cars. Although I think the photographer waited around to have the street as empty as possible. And he probably thought it was clever to have the white lines lead straight up to the background monuments. I think it just constrains and narrows the Rue Royale, making it less grand.
There is a grander Boulevard de la Madeleine, but it is to the side of the church, and joins with Boulevard Capucines, which then reaches L'Opéra de Paris. I think it is apt that the Rue Royale is the street right in front of the church, giving the church a regal (royal) air.
Streets Around L'Église de la Madeleine
A larger area showing the Place de l'Opéra, the Place de la Concorde, the Assemblée Nationale,
the Musée du Louvre, the Jardin des Tuileries, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, and the Seine,
in relation to L'Église de la Madeleine.
History of the Église de la Madeleine:
The Madeleine is a parish of the Archdiocese of Paris. Masses and other religious services are celebrated daily...
The site of this edifice, centred at the end of rue Royale, a line-of-sight between Gabriel's twin hôtels in the Place de la Concorde, required a suitably monumental end from the time the square was established in 1755, as Place Louis XV. The settlement round the site was called Ville l'Évêque, for it had belonged to the bishop of Paris since the time of Philip II of France, when Bishop Maurice de Sully seized the synagogue that stood on the site from the Jews of Paris in 1182, and consecrated it a church dedicated to Mary Magdalene. The site in the suburban faubourg had been annexed to the city of Paris since 1722. [More here]
Below is a turn-of-the-twentieth-century photograph from the Library of Congress George Grantham Bain Collection of almost the same scene I took, with almost the same activities (people, vehicles, etc.). The photographer also took it at a slight angle (but went a farther away from the church) so the distant images are not dead-center, and the side and front of the building in the middle are visible. It looks like an early twentieth century photograph.
Paris, France, Looking down Rue Royal
Black and White film copy negative
United States Library of Congress
The George Grantham Bain Collection
On the George Grantham Bain Collection:
The George Grantham Bain Collection represents the photographic files of one of America's earliest news picture agencies. The collection richly documents sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, political activities including the woman suffrage campaign, conventions and public celebrations. The photographs Bain produced and gathered for distribution through his news service were worldwide in their coverage, but there was a special emphasis on life in New York City. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1900s to the mid-1920s, but scattered images can be found as early as the 1860s and as late as the 1930s. Photo France - Paris - Looking down Rue Royale 1900. Reprint is 20 in. x 16 in. on archival quality photo paper.Facing the Église de la Madeleine, on Rue Royale:
La Rue Royale et la Madeleine
Antique print, 1900
Antique photographic book illustration, 1900
"La France Géographie Illustree"
Published by Librairie Larousse, Paris
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat