Louis-Emile Durandelle is best known for his work documenting the renovation of Paris during the Second Empire. He, along with his partner, Delmaet (with whom he worked until 1862) photographed the new Opera of Paris and its construction in great detail. After its opening, Durandelle made a publication of 45 photos entitled Le Nouvel Opéra de Paris: Sculpture ornementale (1876). These photos record the Opera's sculpture. In the 1870s he documented the Paris Commune, an uprising against Napoleon III. Durandelle is known to have photographed many other Parisian building projects, including the Hotel de Ville, the Ile de la Cité and the Eiffel Tower. Outside of the city he also made a series of photographs of Mont Saint-Michel. After the death of his wife, his old partner Delmaet's widow, Durandelle finally abandoned photography in 1890.

For more information, see The Second Empire: Art in France under Napoleon III by Arnold Jolles, Frederick J. Cummings, Hubert Landais, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1978.