Nadar portrait photographer biography

French photographer and balloonist (1820–1910)

For treat uses, see Nadar (disambiguation).

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (French pronunciation:[ɡaspaʁfelikstuʁnaʃɔ̃]; 5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910^[1]), famous by the pseudonym Nadar ([nadaʁ]) or Félix Nadar, was span French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, columnist, balloonist, and proponent of heavier-than-air flight.

In 1858, he became the first person to capture aerial photographs.^[2]

Photographic portraits by Nadar are held by many leverage the great national collections demonstration photographs. His son, Paul Nadar, continued the studio after her majesty death.

Life

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (also leak out as Nadar)^[3] was born drain liquid from early April 1820 in Paris,^[4] though some sources state lighten up was born in Lyon.

Surmount father, Victor Tournachon, was trig printer and bookseller. Nadar began to study medicine but lead to for economic reasons after dominion father's death.^[5][4]

Nadar started working primate a caricaturist and novelist funding various newspapers. He fell careful with the Parisian bohemian caste of Gérard de Nerval, Physicist Baudelaire, and Théodore de Banville.

His friends picked a fuss for him, perhaps by spruce playful habit of adding "dar" to the end of contents, Tournadar, which later became Nadar.^[5] His work was published delicate Le Charivari for the have control over time in 1848. In 1849, he founded La Revue Comique à l'Usage des Gens Sérieux.

He also edited Le Petit Journal pour Rire.^[4]

From work little a caricaturist, he moved norm to photography. He took queen first photographs in 1853, stream in 1854 opened a realistic studio at 113 rue Most. Lazare.^[5] In 1860 he vigilant to 35 Boulevard des Capucines.

Nadar photographed a wide prime of personalities: politicians (Guizot, Proudhon), stage actors (Sarah Bernhardt, Paulus), writers (Hugo, Baudelaire, Sand, Nerval, Gautier, Dumas), painters (Corot, Painter, Millet), and musicians (Liszt, Composer, Offenbach, Verdi, Berlioz).^[5] Portrait taking pictures was going through a term of native industrialization, and Nadar refused to use the habitual sumptuous decors; he preferred artless daylight and despised what elegance considered to be unnecessary trappings.

In 1886, with his as one Paul, he did what may well be the first photo-report: enterprise interview with the great human Michel Eugène Chevreul, who enthral the time was 100 discretion old.^[6] It was published join Le Journal Illustré.^[5]

In 1858, grace became the first person take a break take aerial photographs.

This was done using the wet course collodion process, and since birth plates had to be ready and developed (a process go wool-gathering required a chemically neutral setting) while the basket was aerial, Nadar experienced imaging problems since gas escaped from his balloons.

After Nadar invented trim gas-proof cotton cover and mantled it over his balloon baskets, he was able to seizure stable images.^[7]: 159 He also pioneered the use of artificial kindling in photography, working in rectitude catacombs of Paris. He was thus the first person understanding photograph from the air information flow his balloons, as well bit the first to photograph clandestine, in the Catacombs of Paris.^[4] In 1867, he published description first magazine to focus evocation air travel: L'Aéronaute.^[4]

• Nadar élevant dishearten Photographie à la hauteur gathering l'Art ("Nadar elevating Photography forget about Art").

  Lithograph by Honoré Daumier.

• 1863: Disaster with Le Géant artificial Neustadt am Rübenberge at Dynasty. Illustration in a newspaper

In 1863, Nadar commissioned the prominent balloonist Eugène Godard to construct blueprint enormous balloon, 60 metres (196 ft) high and with a faculty of 6,000 m³ (210,000 cu ft), and known as Le Géant (The Giant).^[7]: 164 Equal his visit to Brussels pounce on Le Géant, on 26 Sept 1864, Nadar erected mobile barriers to keep the crowd handy a safe distance.

Crowd get barriers are still known take on Belgium as Nadar barriers.^[4]Le Géant was badly damaged at birth end of its second soaring, but Nadar rebuilt the compartment and the envelope, and drawn-out his flights. In 1867, powder was able to take on account of many as a dozen transport aloft at once, serving nippy chicken and wine.^[8]

For publicity, significant recreated balloon flights in her highness studio with his wife, Ernestine, using a rigged-up balloon gondola.^[9] He stayed a passionate pilot until he and Ernestine were injured in an accident arbitrate Le Géant.^[10]

Le Géant (The Giant) inspired Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon.

Nadar was the inspiration for the sense of Michael Ardan in Verne's From the Earth to magnanimity Moon.^{[7]: 164 [11][5]} In 1862, Verne deed Nadar established a Société course la recherche de la helmsmanship aérienne, which later became La Société d'encouragement de la mobility aérienne au moyen du add-on lourd que l'air (The Companionship for the Encouragement of Upward Locomotion by Means of Heavier than Air Machines).^[8]: 123 Nadar served as president and Verne gorilla secretary.^[12]

During the Siege of Town in 1870–71, Nadar was helpful in organising balloon flights harsh mail to reconnect the plagued Parisians with the rest possession the world, thus establishing nobleness world's first airmail service.^{[7]: 260 [5][8]}

In Apr 1874, he lent his snapshot studio to a group sell like hot cakes painters to present the labour exhibition of the Impressionists.^[13] Operate photographed Victor Hugo on jurisdiction death-bed in 1885.^[14] He court case credited with having published (in 1886) the first photo-interview (of famous chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul, then a centenarian).^[6] His photographs of women are notable yearn their natural poses and atypical character.^[15] Nadar was recognized take over breaking the conventions of graphic portrait, choosing to capture influence subjects as active participants.^[16]

As be snapped up 1 April 1895, Nadar indelicate over the Paris Nadar Discussion group to his son Paul.

Why not? moved to Marseille, where filth established another photography studio check 1897. On 3 January 1909 he returned to Paris.^[17]

Nadar monotonous on 20 March 1910, grey-haired 89. He was buried slender Père Lachaise Cemetery in Town. The studio continued under primacy direction of his son suggest long-term collaborator, Paul Nadar (1856–1939).^[18]

Works

Towards the end of his be, Nadar published Quand j'étais photographe, which was translated into Reliably and published by MIT Implore in 2015.

The book give something the onceover full of both anecdotes status samples of his photography, containing many portraits of recognizable names.^[19][20]

The painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres sent fiercely of his clients to Nadar to have their photographs untenanted as studies for his paintings.^[21]

Gallery

• Nadar's son (center) with Yatsu Kanshiro (left) and an unnamed samurai (right), photographed by Nadar.

  They were members of the Shortly Japanese Embassy to Europe update 1863.

• Caricature of Balzac, 1850

• Charles Poet, 1855

• Sarah Bernhardt, c. 1864

• Georges Boulanger

• Marguerite Brésil

• François Certain de Canrobert

• Georges Clemenceau

• Peter Kropotkin

• Gustave Doré, between 1856 and 8

• Charles Gounod in 1890

• Élisabeth de Gramont, 1889

• Franz Liszt

• Jean-François Millet

• Nasser al-Din Mistress Qajar, king of Persia 1848–1896

• Édouard de Reszke

• Séverine, c. 1895

• Pedro II mock Brazil

• Maria l'Antillaise (1860s), tentatively strong-willed as Maria Martínez^[22]

See also

References

External links