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History of Photography
Introduction
History of Photography
A World History of Photography
The Story Behind the Pictures 1827-1991
Photographers' Dictionary


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THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURES 1827-1991
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1 Nicephore Niepce. View from the Study Window, 1827
2 Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre. Boulevard du Temple, 1838
3 Eugene Durieu/Eugene Delacroix. Nude from Behind, ca. 1853
4 Duchenne de Boulogne. Contractions musculaires, 1856
5 Auguste Rosalie Bisson. The Ascent of Mont Blanc, 1862
6 Nadar. Sarah Bernhardt, ca. 1864
7 Francois Aubert. Emperor Maximilian's Shirt, 1867
8 Andre Adolphe Eugene Disderi. Dead Communards, 1871
9 Maurice Guibert. Toulouse-Lautrec in His Studio, ca. 1894
10 Max Priester/Willy Wilcke. Bismarck on his Deathbed, 1898
11 Heinrich Zille. The Wood Gatherers, 1898
12 Alfred Stieglitz. The Steerage, 1907
13 Lewis Hine. Girl Worker in a Carolina Cotton Mill, 1908
14 August Sander. Young Farmers, 1914
15 Paul Strand. Blind Woman, 1916
16 Man Ray. Noire et blanche, 1926
17 Andre Kertesz. Meudon, 1928
18 Robert Capa. Spanish Loyalist, 1936
19 Dorothea Lange. Migrant Mother,
Nipomo, California, 1936
20 Horst P. Horst. Mainbocher Corset, 1939
21 Henri Cartier-Bresson. Germany, 1945
22 Richard Petersen. View from the Dresden City Hall Tower, 1945
23 Robert Doisneau. The Kiss in Front of City Hall, 1950
24 Dennis Stock. James Dean on Times Square, 1955
25 Bert Stern. Marilyn's Last Sitting, 1962
26 Gerard Malanga. Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground, 1966
27 Helmut Newton. They're Coming!,
1981
28 Sandy Skoglund. Revenge of the Goldfish, 1981
29 Robert Mapplethorpe. Lisa Lyon, 1982
30 Joel-Peter Witkin. Un Santo Oscuro, 1987
31 Sebastiao Salgado. Kuwait, 1991
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see also:
BISSON
AUGUSTE -ROSALIE
Chapter 5
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1862
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Auguste Rosalie Bisson
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The Ascent of Mont Blanc
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The Architecture
of the Alpine
Peaks
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The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - the age of
industry and technology - discovered nature anew. The idealized landscapes
of classical painting were replaced by scenes of an environment as
perceived through the analytic eyes of science, and photography came into
its own as a pictorial medium suited to the needs of the age. In the new,
realistic interpretation of landscape, the younger of the two Bisson
brothers was a leading pioneer.
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They photographed architecture -
ever and again architecture. Along with Edouard-Denis Baldus, Gustave Le
Gray, and Henri Le Secq, they number among the most important
architectural interpreters of the nineteenth century. Their large-format
photographs manifest an amazing feel for the power of light, for the
modulations produced by the interplay of light and shadow. In short, the
photographs ofthe Bisson brothers represent an attempt to convey the
reality of architecture in the form of a two dimensional image. But what
is it that lent their unpeopled topographies such clarity and artistic
power? Was it the slowness of their large plates? The complexity of the
photographic process? Or the atmosphere of an age capable of greater
concentration than ours? After i860, at any rate, the name of the firm, "Bisson
freres," was known even beyond the borders of France as a synonym for the
quickly growing genre of architectural photography. But the brothers did
not rest with views of the Louvre, Paris or the cathedrals of Chartres or
Reims. They undertook lengthy journeys to Italy, Spain, and Germany. In
Heidelberg they used a platform to achieve a new and unfamiliar view of
the castle ruins; in Paris, the towers of Notre Dame offered the
opportunity to formulate several views of the city from the airy heights.
A panorama with the astounding dimensions of 17 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches,
composed of three negatives depicting the interior of the Musee du Louvre
in Paris won a positive review from the photography journal La Lumiere:
one must praise the "great harmony of light, and all the fine and numerous
details of this sculptural jewel," which was here "reproduced with rare
harmony." For the sake of completeness, it must be noted that the brothers
also produced daguerreotypes, fulfilled por¬trait contracts, photographed
art works, and also placed their talents at the service of science. But
most importantly, theirs were the first successful photographs o fthe peak
of Mont Blanc in 1861 - an impressive achievement in terms of skill both
in mountaineering and photographic technology. Their achievement not only
caused much excitement at the time, but it also constituted an important
contribution to the history of photography and secured the Bisson brothers
a place among the six most important French photographers of the pioneer
age: Bernard Mar-bot, Nadar, Negre, La Gray, Baldus, and finally, the
Bisson brothers themselves, who, as "diligent pilots of a large firm,"
were thus also intermedi-aries between industry and art.
Two brothers: Louis Auguste, born
in 1814 and Auguste Rosalie, twelve years younger. It was intended that
Louis Auguste become an architect, but in fact he worked for twelve years
in the Paris city administration before turning to daguerreotypy in the
early 1840s -a surprising decision from today's point of view. But we must
remember, at that time, the medium, still young, was a playground for any
entrants into the field who could demonstrate courage, a readiness to take
risks, an interest in pictures, and the spirit of an inventor. Reviewing
the original professions of the early photographers, Hans Christian Adam
came up with a list that included portrait painters, scientists,
lithographers, and even a coal dealer. The Bissons' father, Louis Francois
Bisson, was a ministerial official who painted coats-of-arms on the side,
before he took up the still-young process of daguerreotypy in 1841. The
family was thus from the very beginning a part of that muchcited 'daguerreotypomania'
that took root in France and elsewhere after 1840. It is therefore not
surprising that Auguste Rosalie also soon gave up his job as an official
in the Office of Weights and Measures and turned to photography. He began
with portraits, but also reproduced paintings, and gave instruction in
photography. By 1849 at the latest, the two brothers were working together
as partners and in 1852 they opened a joint studio, initially located at
50 rue Basse du Rempart, then at 62 rue Mazarine, and finally at 8 rue
Garanciere, where they occupied a total of twelve rooms on three stories
for their private and professional needs.
Although the Bisson freres, as
they were officially known as a firm after 1852, were active in all the
early genres of photography except the nude, their real domain remains
that of architectural photography. They advertised an impressive selection
of offerings, including "photographic reproductions of the most beautiful
examples of architecture and sculpture of antiquity, the Middle Ages, and
the Renaissance." The photographs were pasted into books or albums, or
alternatively were made available to the educated public in the form of
original single sheets. In addition to all this, at the beginning of the
1850s, the brothers began to take an interest in landscape photography. A
six-foot-long panorama of the Pavilion de I'Aar probably represents their
first zenith as photographers of nature - and is said to have moved the
Alsatian clothing-manufacturer Daniel Dollfus-Ausset to buy his way into
the Bisson brothers' firm as a limited partner for a sum of one hundred
thousand francs. Dollfus-Ausset took a lively interest in Alpine glaciers,
and felt confident that in Louis August and August-Rosalie Bisson he had
finally found a team who could guarantee him the photographic exploration
of the mountain world. Dollfus-Ausset's affinity for the mountains heights
must be understood in the context of the new understanding of nature.
Beginning with Rousseau at the latest, the traditional, normative concepts
of nature had begun to dissolve: the traditional image of the ideal
landscape as found in literature and the fine arts was now being replaced
by an empirical model. This approach had already entered the sciences, and
by the time of the Napoleonic wars, had increasingly made its way into the
military. It is no accident that fields such as geology, geodesy, and
geomorphology blossomed for the first time precisely during these years of
increasing nationalism and imperialism.
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Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (1826 - 1900)
Ascent of Mont-Blanc (via a crevice), albumin print, 1862
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Photography in the cold, thin
mountain air
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Even before establishing his
connection with the Bisson brothers, Daniel Dollfus-Ausset had already
spurred other photographers on to make pictures of the high ranges of the
mountains. Thus, Jean Gustave Dardel was the first to succeed in taking
photographs of the Alpine landscape, producing approximately a dozen
pictures in 1849. Similarly on the initiative of Dollfus-Ausset, Camille
Bernabe made daguerreotypes of several Alpine glaciers and peaks in August
1850. The midpoint of the century also found other photographers such as
Friedrich von Martens, Aime Civiale, Edouard-Denis Baldus, and the Ferrier
brothers at work in the mountains. Although Auguste Rosalie Bisson was not
the first to set up his camera in the high Alpine ranges, he was the first
photographer to succeed in conquering the heights of Mont Blanc.
Furthermore, unlike the majority of the photographers cited above, he
employed the more modern, albeit more complex, wet-collodion process,
which, it must be added, had not yet been tested under the extreme weather
conditions of the mountain heights. What he brought back from his
successful expeditions of 1861 and 1862 was more than a mere 'I-was-there'
variety of proof: Auguste Rosalie Bisson's large-format negatives and
prints also conform to the highest aesthetic standards.
In August 1859, Auguste Rosalie
Bisson started his first attempt to ascend to the peak of Mont Blanc. It
is difficult for us today to imagine the difficulty of such an
undertaking. In the first place, in 1850 mountain climbing was still in
its infancy, the equipment of the mountain climbers had not yet been
perfected, and the participants as a rule were insufficiently trained. But
even without all this, Mont Blanc represents a particularly dangerous and
moody peak, which had been first conquered only in 1786, and significantly
bore the nickname montagne maudite, or 'damned mountain'. Furthermore, the
challenge facing the younger Bisson was not merely to reach the nearly
sixteen-thousand-foot peak, he also wanted to take photographs there -
specifically using the wet-collodion process that was as yet untested in
the thin mountain air and extremely cold temperatures.
The collodion process, announced
in 1851 by the Englishman Frederick Scott Archer, was the most complex of
all the early black-and-white photographic processes, calling for a glass
plate as the vehicle for the photo-graphic layer. The use of the glass
plate offered the advantages of considerably increased light sensitivity
and a more brilliant and precise image. The disadvantage lay in the no
fewer than eighteen various steps that the process required, from the
sensitizing the plate with a fluid mixture of ether alcohol, collodion,
iodine and bromide salts, through the exposure of the plate in the camera,
and ending in the development and fixing of the negative. Because the
plates had to be exposed while still wet, a traveling photographer had to
carry along - in addition to the camera, tripod, glass plates and
chemicals - a complete darkroom tent. In reality, no fewer than
twenty-five men accompanied Auguste Rosalie Bisson on his excursion; in
addition to the necessary porters, there were also experienced mountain
guides such as Mugnier and Balmat.
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Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (1826 - 1900)
Ascent of Mont-Blanc
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Milestones of early photography
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On 16 August 1859, the party set
out from Chamonix. Initially, the weather looked promising, but worsened
considerably in the course of the day. A hut on the glacial lake served as
their quarters for the night. Now it started to snow and the temperature
sank to ten degrees Fahrenheit; nonetheless, Bisson and four guides
reached the final rock face before the summit on the next day. Buffeting
winds and whirling snow prevented the final ascent, however, and taking
photographs was out of the question. Thus the first attempt was given up
without result. A year later, on 26-27 July 1860, a second attempt also
resulted in Bisson's retreat from the peak without pictures. It was not
until the third try on 24 July 1861 that the photographer finally
succeeded in climbing "the giant among mountains with his equipment," as
La Lumiere commented with admiration. Once again, the weather seemed
favorable. The group set off from Chamonix on the morning of 22 July. By
evening they reached the Grand Moulets at a height of more than ten
thousand feet. They rested for an hour, and reached the great plateau
around six o'clock in the morning. Proceeding to the Petits Moulets at a
height of more than fifteen thousand five hundred feet, the group was
greeted with storm winds and snow, and was forced to turn back. Some of
the men began to give out; they were sent back to Chamonix, and
replacements were sent up. Toward midnight of the second day, they set off
again, finally attaining the peak at morning. "The tent was erected," as
described in a contemporary report, "the camera placed on the stand, the
plate coated and sensitized, exposed, and the view was taken. And what a
view! What a panorama! As the picture was being developed, there was no
water at hand to rinse it. It was assumed one could melt snow with the
lamps, but in this atmosphere, the lamps burned only with a very small
flame... One man was
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Auguste-Rosalie Bisson
(1826 - 1900)
Ascent of Mont-Blanc
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