The Cost of Beauty: The Engineered Perfection of Monumental Paris

Dear Millie,

I’m so sorry for the silence. I’ve finally moved out of Hazel’s*. I am so grateful for her kindness those first few weeks, but I couldn't abuse it forever. She was wonderful enough to introduce me to an Embassy clerk, and I’ve landed a job as a junior phone operator at the OEEC.

That stands for the Organization for European Economic Co-operation—basically the headquarters for the Marshall Plan**. I spend my days connecting international calls to keep the European recovery moving. It’s repetitive, but it pays the rent and keeps me in Kodak film.

Yes, it is all true, just as Billie told you. I’m sharing a flat in Montmartre, and yes with two American girls, no less. Montmartre is a hilltop village overlooking the city; it’s a bit bohemian and steep, but it has a wonderful light that the grander neighborhoods lack.

I finally worked up the nerve to show my portfolio to the Editor-in-Chief at the New York Herald Tribune***. I had the worst five minutes of my life. It was deeply humiliating. He told me my photos lacked "heart" ... I’m not sure what he meant by "heart," and I’ve been feeling quite stuck.

But the more I look at the city through my lens, the more I feel I cannot reach it. To me, Monumental Paris —the world of the grand boulevards and the Seine— is like a beautiful painting or a sculpture you can never touch.

I went to the library at the Place des Vosges, thinking that if I couldn't find "heart" in my viewfinder, I might find it in the city's archives. It’s there that I learned how this place actually came to be.

The transformation of Paris under Napoléon III was one of the most audacious acts of urban planning in history. When he rose to power in 1848, the city was overcrowded and the medieval streets were crumbling and politically unstable. He envisioned a capital of hygiene and authority. Paris would "perform empire."

To do this, he appointed Georges-Eugène Haussmann as the Préfet of the Seine (an official with almost total power over the city). For seventeen years, Haussmann ruled with authoritarian efficiency. He bypassed everyone to build broad boulevards, modern sewers, and that unified architectural style you see in all the pictures. He even restored monuments like Notre-Dame to create a curated sense of history, culminating in landmarks like the Opéra Garnier.

But Millie, this beauty came at a cost. Around 350,000 residents were displaced from the center to make room for the wealthy. Urban renewal favored the rich, and the debt was so massive it eventually led to Haussmann's dismissal.

It’s strange to admire these magnificent avenues while knowing they were engineered through such displacement. I find myself wondering if it’s okay to enjoy a view that was built by choosing to serve the few over the many.

Tell me, Millie... In sunny L.A., do you ever wonder what was torn down to make room for the palms? Or is it better to just enjoy the view and keep the background stories for the history books?

With love,

P.S. Thank you for the photo of Brando; it made me want to go back and read the Tennessee Williams play again.

Nina

Arch de Triomphe: Time-Traveler Crush 🕰️🕰️🕰️

• (*) Hazel Scott: a jazz and classical pianist, and one of the first Black women to host her own TV show in the U.S. She moved to Paris in 1957.
• (**) The Marshall Plan and the OEEC: After the devastation of WWII, the United States launched the Marshall Plan to provide over $13 billion in economic recovery aid to Western Europe. The OEEC (Organization for European Economic Co-operation), headquartered at the Château de la Muette in Paris, was the bureaucratic engine created to manage these funds.
• (***) The New York Herald Tribune (European Edition): In 1958, the Herald Tribune was the definitive voice of the American expat in Paris. Located at 21 rue de Berri, just off the Champs-Élysées, its offices were a smoky, chaotic hub for legendary journalists and writers.

💌 Read Nina's Next Letter: When The Chrysler Building Feels Like Home

This photograph of The Arc de Triomphe is part of Nina's Vintage Paris Polaroid Collection:12 historical snapshots printed on real Instax Square film.