When pilot Roger Henrard photographed Paris from his single-engine
plane between for over twenty years starting in 1950, he
caught Paris not only in the twilight of its Classical period
but also in its grips with Modernism. These postwar years
saw many European cities transform their historical centers,
healing the scars of destruction. While Paris did not suffer
a similar fate, surviving largely intact, this transformation
occurred at its edges. Images illustrating this transformation
begin this beautiful compilation of 320 of Henrard's carefully-composed
aerial photographs.
We see the construction of the Pereferique, the ring road
encircling Paris that followed Napoleon III's fortified
walls. This freeway is the modern equivalent of the city's
most well-known large public works campaign: the boulevards
of Baron Haussmann. Of course we see these linear paths
across the city in many of Henrard's aerials; along with
the Seine, the boulevards are what make Paris Paris.
In addition to the major networks (river, rail, road),
Henrard focuses on the spaces and places that are important
to Paris: the parks, the palaces, and the major public institutions.
These last conclude the book, which moves from periphery
to center, big to small across its roughly 300 pages. The
horizontal format of the book not only cleverly displays
the image alongside an informative sidebar with map and
description, but it allows the book to stay open, allowing
the reader to take in the photographs and their numerous
details.
