The first professional architectural photographer?

[Ed Richards]

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2013/marville.html

The pictures are amazing. Classic architectural photography, done in the mid 1800s on.

[Kirk Gittings]

I always considered Frances Frith as the father of AP but this guy is about the same time-mid 50s.

[Daniel Stone]

Eugène Atget photographed quite a bit of architecture during his lifetime, whether or not he was considered(then or now) a "professional"...

http://onlinebrowsing.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/eugene-atget-documenting-architecture.html

[Daniel Stone]

Julius Shulman was probably one of the earliest "modern"(artistically minded, not just straight documentarian) architectural photographers that I can think of too:

http://www.stahlhouse.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=113

[AtlantaTerry]

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2013/marville.html

The pictures are amazing. Classic architectural photography, done in the mid 1800s on.

Where are the pictures? I clicked links and looked around but didn't see any.

[rcmartins]

Where are the pictures? I clicked links and looked around but didn't see any.

On the right side click on the + next to "Artist information" and then on "Marville, Charles" and finally "Works of Art" if it does not show immediatelly the first photographs.
A direct link would be: http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/artist-info.16473.html?artistId=16473&pageNumber=1
raul

[AtlantaTerry]

OK, that direct link worked.

Thank you.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hello from France

As far as I remember, Charles Marville was hired to document Paris re-contruction work under the supervision of Baron Hausmann. This work took place in the 1860's. See the Wikipedia notice for chronology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Marville
Actually he also recorded old buildings that were soon to be destroyed. This was certainly not Hausmann's purpose when hiring Marville. At the time the ideas were to destroy and clean-up many old blocks to open new avenues, mainly around what is now the Palais Garnier (the opera house) and near the big department stores well-known to many visitors for shopping, Boulevard Hausmann, namely.

Actually Marville was not the first French professional photographer working on assignment in France recording architecture shots.
The Missions Héliographique
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missions_H%C3%A9liographiques
took place earlier (1851 and subsequent years) and the assigment was to record many old buidings in France, including roman ruins, as a global and ambitious inventory.
The name of those who worked for the French governement for the Mission(s) Héliographique were : Édouard Baldus, Hippolyte Bayard, Gustave Le Gray, Henri Le Secq and Auguste Mestral.
The Misson Héliographique is considered as the first government assignement for professional photographers, and may be that in the USA in the 1930's when the US givernement commissioned professional photographers fo the famous FSA project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_Security_Administration#Photography_program, may be the initiators of this famous program had in mind the Mission Héliographique of the 1850's.

Bibliography:
There is an excellent book with Marville pictures published by Hazan, but it is out of print and not easy to find
Marville, Paris
Edited by Marie de Thézy
735 pages
EAN13 : 9782850253744 ISBN :978-2-85025-374-4
publisher: Hazan 1994

------------------------

This one seems to be available at a very affordable price in the famous
(ahem, at least famous among French photographers ;) ) series "Photo
Poche", but with a much smaller number of picture than the Hazan volume.

Photographs by Charles Marville
Foreword by Marie de Thézy
144 pages
EAN13 : 9782867541001 ISBN :978-2-86754-100-1
Publisher : Actes sud 18/06/1999
Collection: Photo poche. (#65)


Regarding the Mission Héliographique, there is a superb book in French,
La Mission héliographique - Cinq photographes parcourent la France en 1851
Edited by Anne de Mondenard
320 pages
ISBN 978-2-85822-690-0
Publisher: Éditions du patrimoine 2002
(http://www.editions.monuments-nationaux.fr/fr/le-catalogue/bdd/livre/111)

The Metropolitan museum of Art had an exhibition on the subject:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/heli/hd_heli.htm

[Ed Richards]

Thanks Emmanuel!

There is a catalog of this exposition that is also affordable:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/022609278X/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[hmf]

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2013/marville.html

The pictures are amazing. Classic architectural photography, done in the mid 1800s on.

As a Washington, DC resident, I am lucky to have been able to see the exhibit twice. There is a panoramic salt print that I cannot stop looking at!

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

There is a catalog of this exposition

Thanks, Ed, for this recent (2013) reference that I immediately add to my list of future purchases of photo books.

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris
by Sarah Kennel & contributors
256 pages
ISBN 978-0226092782
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press 2013

---

now: "cheeke-in-tongue"
of this exposition

If you come to Paris to try and find where Marville and Atget had set-up their tripods, do not be surprised of people have a smile if you mention the word 'exhibitionist' ;)
----------------
And for those who love to play 'tripod-holes', in Paris, this book is for you

Piercing Time: Paris after Marville and Atget 1865-2012
by Peter Sramek
456 pages
ISBN 978-1783200320
Publisher: Intellect Ltd 2013

[tgtaylor]

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2013/marville.html

The pictures are amazing. Classic architectural photography, done in the mid 1800s on.

A 2d thanks to Ed for posting the link to the catalogue. I placed my order at Amazon 2 minutes ago. I looked for a catalogue on the NGA website yesterday but couldn't find any. I'm a big fan of Atget and the exhibition images on the website looked very Atget like. Both Marville and Atget photographically documented old Paris with Marville being the predecessor and it may be that Atget emulated Marville. But Marville printed salt paper as well as albumin and other processes from that period which I am highly interested. This should be a good reference book.

Thomas

[Ed Richards]

The prints are amazing. I am glad I decided to go to the exhibit rather than just buy the catalog. What is striking is that they are pretty much what you would expect if a contemporary architectural photographer had done the work.

[tgtaylor]

I can't believe it. I chose Amazon's "free delivery" but it's "out for delivery" this morning!

Thomas

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

http://metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/charles-marville

[sandunashan]

I always love architectural photography, but i don't think marville was the first architectural photographer, i don't remember his name now, but i remember it was not marville...by the way this photo is great.

[Drew Wiley]

Ahh... what a treat! Thanks for reminding us of Marville.

[tgtaylor]

He may have not been the first architectural but close enough. He predates Atget by a generation.

Thomas