Musical Accompaniment: Ça valait la peine by Coralie Clement.
I discovered a photographer who is absolutely wonderful: Constant Puyo! This picture is called Montmartre, 1906. It’s very beautiful and French, isn’t it? Montmartre is the bohemian hilltop neighborhood, famous for the many, many artists, writers, actors, and dancers who resided there — Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, the magnificent Henri Matisse, Renoir, Ernest Hemingway, and so many more.
In the old novels, the servants always knew everything. Who do you suppose this young woman was looking at? Perhaps Vincent van Gogh or Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was strolling by, entirely unconscious of the fact that someone high above them was watching them with the greatest interest?
flickr history of photography
old spirituals 
A splendid photo, capturing a moment in the life of an impressional young woman. It is also a walk through history. I immediately noticed the “feather duster” under her arm that she was likely using to clean the room off the balcony. Today she would be holding a Swiffer Duster.
By the way, “feather dusters,” made of ostrich feathers, are still sold. Ostrich feathers are especially good for trapping dust because of their unique structure. The black feathers from a mature ostrich are the best to use in a feather duster. They are easy to clean, too. Just rotate it side-to-side between the palms and the dust drops off, returning the feathers to a fluffy and soft condition again. That may be why the young woman is looking the balcony handrail. She just rotated the duster and realized the dust bunnies fell on people in the street.
LikeLike