French photographer Louis-Émile Durandelle (1839-1917) made albumen silver prints of Parisian stone-carvers and the work of their hands during construction of the new opera house in the 1870s. The photograph above is from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum and was taken on a scafflding platform high above the ground, with a sculptor visible at work on the facade in the far distance.
Below, architectural elements for the same building photographed prior to installation. These detail-images are from collections at the Getty.
