PHOTOGRAPHY IN FRANCE
EARLY BEGINNINGS THROUGH MODERN TIMES
Luc
&
Jacques
BEFORE THE PHOTOGRAPH…
• The means of printing visual media in the early 19th
century was by lithography
• Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder, a
German playwright and actor in 1796
• Process used a crayon with grease on a stone
surface
PRODUCTION MEANS REFINED
• Joseph Nicéphore Niépce produced a technique
called heliography
• Made use of the camera obscura
• The process involved exposing an etched pewter
plate to sunlight
• 8 hours of exposure time
• Through this process the first photograph was
created in 1826
The original image on pewter taken in 1826 before its later
reproductions on paper. Taken by Joseph Nicéphore
Niépce from his workroom in his Saint-Loup-de-Varennes
country house, Le Gras.
SEEN FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
The window from which Joseph Niépce took the first photograph
L.J.M. DAGUERRE
• Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre(1787-1851)
• Improved the photographic process with
Daguerreotype
• Created an image by transferring an iodized
copper plate to the camera obscura in order to
collect light
AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY
• Daguerre reduced exposure time by nearaccidental discovery
• Mercury vapors left in his cupboard developed an
already exposed silver plate
• Fitting lenses with larger diameters let in more light
• Daguerre sold his patent to the French government;
the French government gifts the world with the
development process
THE FIRST DAGUERROTYPE:
“L'ATELIER DE L'ARTISTE”
DAGUERREOTYPE PRINTS
THE INTRODUCTION TO FILM PHOTOGRAPHY
• In America, George Eastman made photography
accessible by creating the first roll of transparent
film
• Eastman’s Kodak company is founded in 1888
• “You press the button, we do the rest”
• With the advent of the roll of film, the camera
would soon be in the hands of the common people
A “KODAK MOMENT”
BURGEONING BUSINESS
• Photography became more and more accessible
with the introduction of the Box Brownie camera
(1900) and later, the 35mm camera (1913-1914)
• Revolutionary photographers: Ansal Adams
(American), Henri Cartier Bresson (French), and
Robert Capa (Hungarian)
HENRI CARTIER BRESSON (1908-2004)
• Parisian-born photographer said to be the father of
photo-journalism
• Bresson came from a wealthy family, but wanted
nothing to do with money
• Left home to become an artist after his father’s
realizations that he would not enter into commerce
• Studied painting under the tutorship of André Lhote
at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris
• Renounced painting for photography; destroyed
nearly all of his canvases
BRESSON (CONT)
• Bresson’s photographic style was heavily influenced
by Lhote, drawing on an emphasis of composition
• Was a frequent visitor of surrealist salons near the
place Blanche, a small plaza in Paris
• Ironically, Bresson had very little interest in
photojournalism
• His photography was very much concerned with
capturing the candid moment
• Bresson would only keep his images if all aspects of
the image, in his eyes, were perfect
Henri Cartier Bresson during the Paris riots in 1968
BRESSON’S PHOTOGRAPHS
Focusing on the geometry inside the frame, Bresson’s
photographs helped to shape many photographic minds.
His surrealist teachings dominate this image here.
THE DECISIVE MOMENT
• Taken from an interview with Scholastic Magazine in
1973
JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE (1894-1986)
• French borne photographer and painter most
notable for his portraiture of women and early car
races
• Was not discovered until he was 69, after releasing
120 photograph albums dedicated to everyday life,
his family, car shows, and sporting events
• After an impressive release of his autobiography, US
fashion magazines including LIFE magazine hunted
him down for his work
• Dedicated to his craft, he worked professionally up
until his death at 92 years old
LARTIGUE’S FAMOUS PORTRAITS
Lartigue’s impressive ability to capture motion so quickly is what
brought attention to him later in life when his photo albums were
discovered
ROBERT CAPA (1913-1954)
• Hungarian born photographer, a close friend of
Henri Cartier Bresson and the most famous war
photojournalist
• “If you call yourself an artist, you won't get anything
published. Call yourself a photojournalist, and then
you can do whatever you want.” – Robert Capa
advising Henri on how to get his photographs
published
• Founded Magnum Photos with Bresson and two
other photographers after WWII to cover news
stories and share art internationally (1947)
THE WAR JOURNALIST’S PHOTOGRAPHS
Robert Capa’s photographs covered many of the most
important world events happening in the early 20th
century. His fearlessness brought him to the frontlines on
Omaha beach in Normandy France where he would
capture this famous photograph published in Time
Magazine.
GUY LOUIS BOURDIN (1928-1991)
• French borne photographer abandoned by his
mother. Maurice Désiré Bourdin raised him with the
help of his mother
• In 1948-49, he joined the French airforce and
received his first photographic training. Stationed in
Dakar, Senegal
• His themes were unlike any other photographer. He
created a complex narrative using sensual,
provocative, shocking, exotic, surrealistic, and
sinister themes. He then added a fashion item.
BOURDIN (CONT)
• Mentor Man Ray an American modernist. He was a
fashion and portrait photographer
• Guy often treated his subjects poorly
• He never saved much of his own work, but his son
saved what he could
• His son, Samuel filed a lawsuit against Madonna in
2003 for copyright infringement on Guy’s works. The
claim was that Madonna had copied Guy’s visual,
erotica style in her music video for her song,
“Hollywood”
A GLIMPSE INTO FASHION AND MADNESS
This photograph perfectly encompasses Guy’s
photographic themes. Combining eroticism with color
and stories without context, he creates visually striking
images.
VOGUE EXHIBITION
• Guy's 2007 Exhibition
TODAY’S PHOTOGRAPHIC SENSE IN FRANCE
• Heavy emphasis on fashion and female models
• Photo.fr and Magnum Photo are French magazines
that cover the world of photography and art
internationally
• Impressionists continue to try to replicate Guy’s style
of photographic art
• Maison Européenne de la Photographie is a
museum dedicated to photographs from around
the world located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris
WORKS CITED
• Assouline, Pierre. Henri Cartier-Bresson: A Biography. New York: Thames & Hudson,
2005. Print.
• Bellis, Mary. "Daguerreotype." About.com Inventors. About.com, n.d. Web. 06 Dec.
2012.
• Bellis, Mary. "George Eastman - History of Kodak and Rolled Photographic Film."
About.com Inventors. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
• Brain, Marshall. "How Stone Lithography Works." HowStuffWorks. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Dec. 2012.
• Gernsheim, Helmut, and Alison Gernsheim. "The Invention of Photography." L. J. M.
Daguerre; the History of the Diorama and the Daguerreotype,. New York: Dover
Publications, 1968. N. pag. Print.
• "Guybourdin.org." Guybourdin.org. Maininedit.fr, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2012.
• "Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin." Harry Ransom Center RSS.
Ed. Roy Flukinger. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
• "Madonna Pays Up To Settle Copyright Lawsuit." The Smoking Gun. N.p., 24 May
2004. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
• "ROBERT CAPA." Robert Capa The Most Famous War Photographer of the 20th
Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
• Whelan, Richard. Robert Capa: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 1985. Print.