Above Paris: The Aerial Survey of Roger Henrard

by Jean-Louis Cohen

Between the years 1950 and 1972, when Paris was in the twilight of its classical period, pilot and photographer Roger Henrard (1900-1975) preserved the city he knew and loved from the seat of a single-engine American army surplus Piper cub. Henrard used a high-speed plate camera to systematically document the city from its outskirts to its center. His photographs show not only Paris's stations, museums, department stores, and housing projects but also its urban tissue and interconnectionsthe tight-knit medieval districts as well as the rectilinear geometry of the Haussmanian boulevards. Above Paris is Henrard's remarkable study of the urban landscape of Paris and its best-known monuments. Over 350 beautifully printed duotones, grouped by themes such as the course of the Seine, the main roads, the stations, and the neighborhoods of Paris give a clear overview of the city's layout. Maps at the beginning of each chapter further help orient the reader and together with detailed captions and essays by Jean-Louis Cohen make Above Paris a must for anybody interested in Paris or urban design.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2006

About the author

Jean-Louis Cohen (20 July 1949 – 7 August 2023) was a French architect and architectural historian specializing in modern architecture and city planning.

Reviews

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished Above Paris: The Aerial Survey of Roger Henrard and spent the rest of the day looking at strangers differently. Cohen, Jean-Louis has a gift for making ordinary people feel like they're carrying whole worlds. The pacing wanders, but I never minded. Recommend for people-watchers, skip if you need a plot with teeth.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beauiful photos of Paris 1950's but way above the buildings. One feels like a bird just wondering from one neighborhood after another. I got excited thinking that Boris Vian or Serge Gainsbourg was down there someplace. I studied the area Saint Germain like if I was doing a heist at a bank.