photo: © Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre - Les Ruines de Paris | Library
What if Paris—the City of Light—suddenly disappeared? What if the city were erased, its streets abandoned and its monuments left to time? This dystopian scenario came to life in the series by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre presented by Galerie Fontana: Les Ruines de Paris.
Marchand and Meffre, known for their photographic explorations of faded grandeur, previously made an impression with their iconic series The Ruins of Detroit (2005–2010). In their latest work, they explore a desolate version of the French capital, inspired by Alan Weisman’s hypothesis in The World Without Us (2007), which explores the consequences of a sudden disappearance of humanity.
The photographers subvert iconic images of Paris, offering a disturbing yet aesthetically powerful perspective on decay and impermanence.
Ruins have been a source of fascination for centuries. In the 19th century, they inspired German and English Romantics such as Caspar David Friedrich and J.M.W. Turner and resonated in the works of French writers including Victor Hugo and Alphonse de Lamartine.
At the same time, the rise of photography—with pioneers such as Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot —offered a revolutionary way to capture this transience. While ruins physically disappear, photography has the unique power to preserve them: “Ruins disappear; photography preserves.”
This project is more than a stylistic exercise; it asks an urgent question: is humanity in danger of becoming obsolete because of its own creations?
The artists delved into the historical role of photography, from the documentation of the destruction following the "Bloody Week" of the Paris Commune in 1871 to the contemporary phenomena of dark tourism and 'ruinsploitation'.
In today’s digital age, however, photography extends beyond straightforward documentation. The arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) introduces a new element of manipulation and interpretation.
On a winter afternoon in January 2024, Marchand and Meffre began an experimental project. Using AI, they generated more than 52,000 images, requiring an average of 650 iterations for each final image. Despite the technical imperfections, the impact of their work was immediately palpable. Seeing the physical dissolution of a city so familiar to them proved more confronting than they had imagined.
For Marchand and Meffre, however, AI is not merely a tool for visualizing fantasies. The technology inevitably carries norms, biases, and clichés. By using AI within the concrete historical and cultural context of Paris, they explore the boundary between reality and simulation. This project is more than a stylistic exercise; it asks an urgent question: does humanity risk becoming obsolete because of its own creations?
About the Artists
Paris-born Yves Marchand (1981) and Romain Meffre (1987) have worked together since 2002 and share a passion for photography as a medium for documenting the rise and fall of civilizations. Their work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, Polka Galerie in Paris, Tristan Hoare Gallery in London, MUCEM in Marseille, and the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.
Their photographs are held in the collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, and Fondation Carmignac. They have received prestigious awards, including the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis for The Ruins of Detroit (2012) and the Prix des Libraires for Les Ruines de Paris (2024).
Les Ruines de Paris —Galerie Fontana
Lauriergracht 142, Amsterdam
February 8–May 3, 2025
