The Orient-Express
Many tales, fabricated or based on facts, have been told about the Orient-Express, a technological achievement that became a cultural icon. Some have become legends, drowning historical reality in imaginative stories. It all started with the International Sleeping-Car Company, which ran the Orient-Express, the world’s first international luxury train, between Paris and Constantinople, later Istanbul, from 1883 to 1977. Its creation was a veritable diplomatic and economic feat at a time when empires and states used railways as an instrument of political power.
The photographs in the Orient-Express & Co exhibition of 2021 Rencontres d'Arlescome in Arles are from the archives of the former International Sleeping-Car Company. Pictures, plans, maps, technical drawings and advertising brochures saved by former employees during the company’s various reorganizations put the Orient-Express into its historical context. Most are anonymous, others the work of famous studios such as Paul Nadar, Albert Chevojon and Sebah & Joailler.
