Arc antique à Orange

In 1853 Baldus traveled throughout Provence, recording the region’s ancient and medieval monuments. Among his destinations was the first-century Roman arch at Orange, a site he had photographed two years earlier on a government-sponsored mission héliographique, or photographic survey. This time, he traveled with a new, larger format camera, and he honed a mature style that would bring him renown and that would become a standard for architectural photography. Photographing under diffused light conditions and on a scale that was nearly unprecedented, Baldus succeeded in conveying the monumentality of the Roman arch (63 feet high and 64 feet wide) and registering the details of coffering, fluted Corinthian columns, and bas-relief trophies with exquisite legibility. While allowing the ancient monument to be seen in its modern site (road construction in the foreground, laundry in the background), Baldus nonetheless intervened, painting on his negative to block out the sky, the treetops, and the telegraph pole and wires that must have seemed distracting or anachronistic.