Exposition « 1910… Et soudain, Paris fut sous l'eau »

To mark the bicentenary of photography, the City of Paris invites Parisians and visitors to discover previously unseen images of everyday life during the exceptional 1910 flood of the Seine.

“Raging Waters”, headlines the newspaper Le Rappel on 24 January 1910, as the Seine flood reaches record levels, rising to 8.62 m on the 28th. Exceptional, the event arouses the curiosity of Parisians, but also of photographers. Professionals and amateurs alike, owning a camera having become widespread at the start of the 20th century, capture the flooded streets of Paris and, for some, sell their prints to the press or to postcard publishers.

Caught candidly or posing, flood victims, rescue workers and onlookers convey the scale of the disaster and the wave of solidarity it sparked. As for the abundance of images, it bears witness to the emergence of a new media system in which photography, whose bicentenary is being celebrated this year, plays a central role.

The collections of the City of Paris, held in specialised libraries, at the Archives de Paris and in the Roger-Viollet collection, are a considerable resource. Open to all, they help people better understand the history of Paris and also shed light on today's environmental challenges. They also offer a valuable source of material for artists, writers and filmmakers to nourish their creative work and give rise to new imaginaries.

The feature film L'Age d'or, directed by Bérenger Thouin, is part of this approach. Presented at the Cannes Film Festival in May and due in French cinemas in November, it portrays a woman across the 20th century, blending images shot today by the crew and actors with old films from the Gaumont Pathé Archives collection, and thus offers a fresh perspective on the 1910 flood.

An exhibition presented by the Comité d'histoire de la Ville de Paris, the Archives de Paris, Roger Viollet, Pyramides Production, GoGoGo Films and Gaumont Pathé Archives.

To find out more about the 1910 flood