Recently, we noted that Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre's 1838 photograph "Boulevard du Temple" is widely considered to be the first photograph to include an image of a human. The humans in the image - a shoeshine boy and his client - are scarily visible. The boulevard that Daguerre captured was later shortened to make way for the Place de la Republique, and as a result, the exact location of the shoeshine stand was lost to history. That is, until some enthusiastic filmmakers started hunting for it in 2024. Thanks to their research, a bronze plaque has now been placed at the spot.

  Peggy Roalf: Do you remember the first illustrated book you acquired as a young adult? What attracted your attention to that particular volume? Viktor Koen: Other than growing up on a healthy diet of Tintin, Asterix & Obelix and Lucky Luke, the first illustrated book I remember intentionally buying was Art Spiegelman’s Maus. PR: Do books still have the same allure that they did when you were a student? VK: The allure has only increased. There is noth...