Often cultural spaces are as striking as the artefacts they showcase.

Photographer Ludwig Favre shines a light on the Parisian buildings housing some of France’s prized possessions in a new photo series.
Places of Culture of Paris focuses on three 19th-century spaces, including the Salle Labrouste in the National Library of France, named after its architect Henri Labrouste. The library at La Sorbonne University building, designed by architect Henri-Paul Nénot, also features.

Favre’s favourite space is La galerie de paléontologie et d’anatomie comparée – designed by architect Ferdinand Dutert. The gallery forms part of Paris’ National Museum of Natural History.

‘I visited the place when I was young and it made a mark on me,’ he explains.

Throughout the series, Favre captures the spaces devoid of people, giving the architecture a starring role.
‘I wanted majestic places,’ he says. ‘I don’t look to provide a different reading of a place but just to share what I saw and felt the first time seeing the place.’

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