Under Eiffel’s Watch - A Parisian Canvas
Alliance Française de Trivandrum presents Under Eiffel's Watch: A Parisian Canvas – A Photography Exhibition by Srinath G M
Saturday, January 18, 2025 to Friday, February 28, 2025
This exhibition, Under Eiffel's Watch - A Parisian Canvas, represents a critical engagement with the visual, cultural, and historical dimensions of Paris as articulated through the lens of its most iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower. Drawing upon the aesthetic and philosophical frameworks of Magnum Photographers, this body of work interrogates the interplay between monumentality and ephemerality, situating the Eiffel Tower as both a steadfast symbol of Parisian identity and an active participant in the city's evolving urban narratives.
Conceptually, the project is underpinned by a phenomenological approach to black-and-white photography, wherein the absence of color emphasises form, texture, and contrast, allowing the viewer to engage with the Tower as a subject of memory, imagination, and sensory experience. The series was conceived during an intensive seven-day study in Paris, during which the Tower was explored not merely as an architectural marvel but as a palimpsest of social, political, and cultural interactions.
Each photograph in this collection juxtaposes the Tower's monumental presence with transient human activities and environmental transformations, thereby challenging traditional hierarchies of subject and context. By framing the Tower through dynamic perspectives—be it from the ornate ironwork of Pont Alexandre III, the reflective surface of the Seine, or the bustling market scenes of Trocadéro—this work situates the monument within the rhythms of quotidian Parisian life. The project draws inspiration from critical theories of space and place, particularly Henri Lefebvre’s notion of spatial practice, examining how the Eiffel Tower mediates individual and collective engagements with urban space.
This series also aspires to expand the discourse on documentary and street photography by integrating techniques that foreground the texture and materiality of the urban environment. The decision to work exclusively in monochrome reflects an intentional effort to abstract the imagery, creating a space where light, shadow, and structure converge to evoke new ways of seeing both the city and its most celebrated monument.
Through this exhibition, I aim to contribute to ongoing scholarly conversations on the intersection of memory, identity, and visual culture while reaffirming the Eiffel Tower's place as a perennial source of artistic and intellectual inquiry. Ultimately, Under Eiffel's Watch - A Parisian Canvas serves as both a homage and a critique, inviting viewers to reimagine the Tower not as a static icon but as a living, breathing participant in the story of Paris.
Curatorial Note
In Under Eiffel's Watch - A Parisian Canvas, the exhibition is conceived in two complementary sections, each designed to offer a unique lens through which to explore the Eiffel Tower and the vibrant life surrounding it. The first section, focused on the Tower itself, seeks to underscore its monumental presence within the urban fabric of Paris. These photographs invite the viewer to contemplate the Tower not just as an architectural wonder but as a symbol of Parisian identity, framed in ways that amplify its significance within the city’s skyline. By contrasting its steadfast, immovable form with the fluid, everyday life that unfolds beneath it, the exhibition prompts reflection on the Tower’s role as both a constant and a symbol of cultural resilience. In the second section, the streets of Paris become the focal point, where smaller, more intimate images capture the rich diversity and transient moments of human interaction—immigrants, locals, and tourists—set against the background of the Tower. This contrast between permanence and ephemerality deepens the narrative, highlighting how the Eiffel Tower serves as both a constant witness and participant in the city’s ever-evolving story.
From a curatorial perspective, the design and installation of the exhibition are intentionally crafted to guide the viewer through an immersive, two-part journey. The grandeur of the Eiffel Tower images is reflected in their placement and scale, creating a sense of awe as visitors encounter them, while the street scenes are positioned to foster a more intimate, personal connection. This contrast in scale and proximity invites deeper engagement with the fleeting moments depicted in the images. The lighting design plays a pivotal role, with bright, focused lighting highlighting the monument's monumental nature, and softer, more atmospheric lighting in the street scenes to evoke a sense of intimacy and dynamism. This deliberate architectural structure and lighting create a seamless transition between the stillness of the Tower and the vibrancy of Parisian life, offering viewers a layered, multifaceted experience that encourages them to reflect on the relationship between the monument and the city, its people, and its history.
The Exhibition
Under Eiffel's Watch - A Parisian Canvas explores the spatial dynamics, identity formations, and cultural practices associated with the Eiffel Tower, engaging critically with its role as a nexus of interaction within Parisian urbanity. As an emblematic structure, the Tower transcends its architectural function to become a site of dynamic social exchange, reflecting the evolving nexus of local, immigrant, and tourist populations. This exploration interrogates how the Tower, as a monumental and symbolic space, mediates various forms of belonging and urban emplacement, offering a lens through which the complex intersection of cultural identity and urban space in a globalised metropolis can be understood.
The exhibition further critically addresses the commodification of the Eiffel Tower through the proliferation of replicas and souvenirs marketed to tourists. These objects, often detached from their original socio-cultural contexts, stand in stark contrast to the Tower’s architectural and symbolic gravitas. This juxtaposition invites reflection on the dialectic between authenticity and imitation, examining how such iconic structures function within the global exchange of cultural capital. By positioning these replicas alongside the original monument, the exhibition highlights the commodification of place and identity, materialising the tension between cultural heritage as both a lived experience and a marketable commodity.
45th Anniversary Commemorative Limited-Edition Collector's Postcard / Carte postale collector en édition limitée cétbrant les 45 ans de l'Alliance
