Book: 360 views of Notre Dame

Tomas Van Houtryve

Tomas van Houtryve is a Paris based artist, photographer and filmmaker whose major works interweave investigative journalism, philosophy and metaphor. Van Houtryve makes images using a wide range of processes, ranging from 19th-century wet plate collodion to thermal imaging and Augmented Reality. His projects challenge our notions of identity, memory and power, often by highlighting the slippage of wartime structures into everyday life.

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On April 15, 2019, fire devastated the iconic Notre Dame cathedral of Paris.

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In Tomas van Houtryve: 36 Views of Notre Dame, the viewer accompanies the artist on his fourteenyear journey photographing the Paris icon before and after the fire. Van Houtryve obtained remarkable access to the cathedral to document the devastation of the fire and the reconstruction. Drawing inspiration from Hokusai’s series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, the artist explores the monument in different contexts, seasons and using a wide range of photographic techniques—from 19th-century wet collodion to aerial drones. Accompanying the artist’s works is a multilayered archive of the cathedral, including historic photographs, vernacular images and text by Victor Hugo.

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