Nadar (photographer)
| Nadar | |
|---|---|
Self-portrait circa 1860
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| Born |
Gaspard-Félix Tournachon 6 April 1820 Paris, France |
| Died | 23 March 1910 (aged 89) Paris, France |
| Resting place |
Père Lachaise Cemetery 48°51′36″N 2°23′46″E / 48.860°N 2.396°E |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation |
Photographer caricaturist journalist novelist balloonist |
| Known for | Pioneer in photography |
| Parent(s) | Victor Tournachon |
| Signature | |
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Nadar was the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (6 April 1820 – 23 March 1910), a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist, and balloonist (or, more accurately, proponent of manned flight).
Photographic portraits by Nadar are held by many of the great national collections of photographs.
Nadar was born in April 1820 in Paris (though some sources state Lyon). His father, Victor Tournachon, was a printer and bookseller. After his father's death, Nadar decided to quit his medical studies for economic reasons. Nadar started working as a caricaturist and novelist for various newspapers. He fell in with the Parisian bohemian group of Gérard de Nerval, Charles Baudelaire and Théodore de Banville. His friends picked a nickname for him: Tournadar, which later became Nadar. His work was published in Le Charivari for the first time in 1848. In 1849, he founded the Revue comique and the Petit journal pour rire.
From work as a caricaturist, he moved on to photography, particularly portraits. He opened his photography studio in rue Saint Lazare in 1854 and moved to 35 Boulevard des Capucines in 1860. Nadar photographed a wide range of personalities: politicians (Guizot, Proudhon), stage actors (Sarah Bernhardt), writers (Hugo, Baudelaire, Sand, Nerval, Gautier, Dumas), painters (Corot, Delacroix, Millet), and musicians (Liszt, Rossini, Offenbach, Verdi, Berlioz). Portrait photography was going through a period of native industrialization and Nadar refused to use the traditional sumptuous decors, preferred natural daylight and despised useless accessories. In 1886, with his son Paul, he did what may be the first photo-report: an interview with the great scientist Chevreul (who was then 100 years old). It was published in le Journal Illustré.
He took his first photographs in 1853 and in 1855 opened a photographic studio at 25 Boulevard des Capucines and in 1858 he became the first person to take aerial photographs. This was done using the wet plate collodion process, and since the plates had to be prepared and developed while the balloon was aloft Nadar experienced problems caused by the chemical action on the plates of gas escaping from the balloon, eventually overcome by using a gas-proof cotton cover over the balloon basket. He also pioneered the use of artificial lighting in photography, working in the catacombs of Paris. He was the first person to photograph above ground with his balloons, as well as the first to photograph below ground, in the Parisian catacombs.
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