Paris, as the world imagines it, was largely invented by the camera — and San Francisco can now see exactly how. Eternal Paris: Photographing the City of Light, on view at the Legion of Honor through April 4, 2027, gathers nearly 50 photographs from the Fine Arts Museums’ collection to trace how photography shaped the enduring image of the French capital.
The exhibition moves from early views of famous monuments and the ruins left by the Paris Commune of 1871 to Eugène Atget’s beloved chronicle of a city on the brink of the modern age. A highlight is Louis-Gabriel Loppé’s luminous view of the Eiffel Tower and the Great Wheel, taken around 1900, with the tower’s searchlight beams sweeping over a glowing cityscape.
Together, the works celebrate Paris as a cultural capital and center of artistic life, while showing how photographers preserved a city that was transforming before their eyes. It is an intimate, beautiful show — and a perfect pairing with the Legion of Honor’s own Beaux-Arts architecture in Lincoln Park.
Happy City News recommends a slow wander through these silver-toned streets. Eternal Paris is on view now at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
Photo: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
