Ten photographs by the French photographer Constant Alexandre Famin, documenting the devastation of the Parisian suburb of Saint Cloud during the Franco-Prussian War, capture the horrors of war with uniformly complex, poignant compositions. The photographs are bound in a red-leather presentation album titled "Souvenirs Des Prussians a S. Cloud Guerre 1870-1871."

Famin operated two studios in Paris in the mid-19th century. He was recognized for his landscapes and rural scenes, many created in the forest of Fontainebleau, and his floral studies. Interestingly, a handful noted photographers were on the scene in the immediate aftermath of the conflict, cameras in hand. Adolphe Bruan and Bruno Braquehais were two who extensively photographed the devastation.

Driven by long standing tensions and territorial ambitions, France, under Emperor Napoleon III, was determined to check the growth of Prussian power and avenge what it saw as a series of diplomatic humiliations. Prussia, under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, believed that a Prussian-led war of the German states against France would be a decisive act leading to creation of a unified German empire.

The conflict began when France declared war in July of 1870, with Prussia's superior military prowess swiftly overpowering the woefully under-prepared French forces. Decisive victories at battles such as Sedan and Metz were followed by the capture of Napoleon III, the collapse of the French government and then the Siege of Paris. On January 5, the German armies began a bombardment of the city, which lasted several hours each night for a period of 23 nights. About 12,000 shells fell on Paris neighborhoods, killing some 400 people. Paris surrendered on January 28, effectively ending the war.