The story of Albert Kahn is a fascinating one, and his gardens – just outsides of Paris but easy to get to by metro – are an incredible place that you should definitely discover…

Albert Kahn (1860-1940) was a French banker who moved to a large house in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb on the west of Paris, in the late 19th Century. Sent to Japan for business in 1909, he took many photos and decided that it was important to document the current times by starting a photographic collection. It is thanks to him that we have many rare images of the world at that time. Over the years he collection grew, as did his garden; Kahn bought the properties around his and created a garden with many different areas such as the Japanese garden, rose garden etc. It’s a wonderful, unusual place to visit.

In 1986, the Albert Kahn Museum was founded in order to preserve the 72,000 photos and 180,000 metres of film stock.

The Museum regularly holds exhibitions, many of which are exceptional because of the rare photos they have at their disposal. In June 2008 a new exhibition called Infiniment Indes will be inaugurated, showing 150 of the 1,200 colour photos taken by two photographers during two long trips, Stéphane Passet in 1913/1914 and Roger Dumas in 1927/1928, as well as the black & white films they took. Life in the streets and palatial feasts, water carriers in Bombay and elephant drivers in Udaipur, the golden temples of Amritsar and cremations in Vanarasi… these photos show an India that is diverse and complex, unclassifiable and contradictory. They are rarely seen and give a unique glimpse into a world that has now all but disappeared.

(And don’t forget that the Museum is worth visiting for the gardens alone. In fact, I think we’ll go back there and take some photos for you very soon!).

Here’s all the essential information for the Infiniment Indes exhibition at the Musée Albert Kahn

When: 17th June 2008 – 8th March 2009
Where: Musée Albert Kahn, 14 rue du Port, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt. Métro Boulogne-Pont de Saint-Cloud (line 10). Bus n°s 52, 72, 126, 160, 175, 467. Tramway T2, stop Parc de Saint-Cloud
Opening hours: Open every day except Mondays, 11am – 6pm (7pm during the summer)
Entrance fee: ridiculously cheap: 1.50 euros. Free for under-12s
Official site (in French): here
And for those with a bit of French, the press release is also included below…

Bigger map here