30 Incredible Vintage Photographs of Paris

Among all of the beautiful cities in the world, Paris is probably the most highly revered. The food, fashion, and sites attract millions of tourists and artists looking for inspiration. The history of the city and its people also capture the imagination of all those who gaze upon the Eiffel Tower, visit the Louvre, or hear the bells of Notre Dame.

To honor "The City of Light" we put together this gallery of 30 Incredible Vintage Photographs of Paris.

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Photographer: Maynard Owen Williams

Year: 1936

Daytime strollers walk past lottery and vermouth billboards on Boulevard des Italiens. Maynard Owen Williams was the first foreign correspondent for National Geographic.

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Photographer: Tore Yngve Johnson

Year: 1948-1954

Tore Johnson was a member of the Ten Photographers, a Swedish photography collective that formed the photo agency Tiofoto.

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Photographer: Elliott Erwitt

Year: 1969

Erwitt was asked to join well-known photography agency Magnum Photos in 1953 at the age of 25 and served as president more than once.

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Photographer: Lee Miller

Year: 1944-1945

This photo, taken by famed American photojournalist Lee Miller, shows the Eiffel Tower on a snowy day as seen from the Palais de Chaillot.

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Photographer: André Kertész

Year: 1928

Built in 1772, the octagonal Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris, and the photographer Kertész has been called one of the most important photographers of the 20th century.

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Photographer: Brassai

Year: 1932

The symmetry of the tower, bridge, and their reflections make for a visually striking photograph.

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Photographer: Elliott Erwitt

Year: 1989

This photo is reminiscent of Martin Munkasci's "Puddle Jumper" photo from Harper's Bazaar in 1934. Surely Erwitt looked to that photo for inspiration, as have many photographers of the past several decades.

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Photographer: Brassaï

Year: 1931-1932

The lighting and shadows in this photo are amazing, especially the one that looks like it's making out with the man.

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Photographer: Yale Joel

Year: 1948

Yale Joel served as a combat photographer in World War II and later joined the LIFE photography team. During his career, Joel spent time at their Washington, New York, Boston, and Paris offices.

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Photographer: Brassai

Year: 1937

Rue Foyatier is one of the most famous streets in Paris. The many flights of stairs lead to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris.

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Photographer: Eugène Atget

Year: 1900s

This photo is a part of the Rubel Collection at the Metropolitan Museum. Atget was known to take long exposure photos very early in the morning while the streets of Paris were empty.

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Photographer: Man Ray

Year: 1930

Though he considered himself a painter, American artist Man Ray produced works in various mediums including photography. He moved to Paris in the summer of 1921 and spent the next 20 years photographing the Parisian people and places.

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Photographer: Unspecified

Year: 1910

The Seine River flooded from heavy rains in 1910 and caused over 400 million francs ($1 billion modern US dollars) in damages.

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Photographer: Eugène Atget

Year: 1924

This photo was taken to document the intersection before the building at the center was to demolished. It sold in 2011 at Sothebys for 13,700 EUR.

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Photographer: Edward Clark

Year: 1946

The ARC de Triomphe is a monument that stands in the middle of the Place Charles de Gaulle. Inaugurated in 1836, it honors those that lost their lives in the Napoleonic and French Revolutionary Wars. Most photos of the ARC are taken during the day when there is foot and vehicular traffic and when the sun can reveal all of the details, but this veil makes it more interesting.

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Photographer: Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Year: 1940

Dahl-Wolfe is known most for her work as a photographer for Harper's Bazaar where she produced over 80 covers and hundreds of published photos. A full archive of her work is available from the Center for Creative Photography.

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Photographer: Marc Riboud

Year: 1953

The graceful painter against the rugged, industrial ironwork and the city is a cool juxtaposition.

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Photographer: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Year: 1985

Henri Cartier-Bresson is regarded as the father of modern photojournalism and street photography. He was one of the first photographers to work primarily with a Leica 35mm rangefinder.

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Photographer: Ferdinando Scianna

Year: 1976

The Centre Georges Pompidou houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne, ICRAM, and the BPI (Bibliothèque Publique d'Information). One of the most popular tourist destinations in Paris, its inside-out high-tech architecture was the inspiration for the visible air unit in Nike's Air Max One.

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Photographer: Henri Cartier-Bresson

Year: 1969

The Tulieries Gardens, created in 1564 and opened to the public in 1667, is located in between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde.

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Photographer: René Burri

Year: 1975

René Burri has had a long and distinguished career and has traveled the world extensively working for Magnum and various publications. This photo was taken on the oldest standing bridge over the river Seine.

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Photographer: Unidentified

Year: 1906-1910

The metro system in Paris is comprised of 133 miles of track that connects 303 subway stations.

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Photographer: Unspecified

Year: 1852

Le Bon Marché is a popular department store in Paris that now houses brands like Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, APC, and Lanvin.

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Photographer: Jean Louis Penel

Year: 1972

You don't often see the slums of Paris in photographs. This dilapidated apartment building is beautiful, in a tragic sort of way.

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Photographer: Stéphane Passet

Year: 1914

What makes this interesting is that it is one of the rare color photographs of the decade. It looks to have been taken at a long exposure because the human subjects appear as ghosts.

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Photographer: L. Mercier

Year: 1895

On October 22, 1895, the Number 56 train from Grandville came into the station at too high of a speed and crashed through the platform buffers and onto the street below. The image is still popular over 100 years later.

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Photographer: Louis-Émile Durandelle

Year: 1887

Construction of the Eiffel Tower began in January of 1887 and was completed in 1889. It held the record of world's largest structure for more than 40 years.

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Photographer: Gabriel Loppé

Year: 1902

This photo was taken from Loppé's balcony at L’avenue du Trocadéro. Talk about your prime real estate!

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Photographer: Yvon

Year: 1920s

We love this iconic shot of the Notre Dame gargoyles by Yvon (Pierre Yves-Petit).

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Photographer: Yvon

Year: 1920s

Referred to as France's "best-known Unknown photographer," Pierre Yves-Petit took postcard photography under the name Yvon. A collection of his work was published in 2010 in a book entitled Yvon's Paris.

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