Birth of Modern Europe

Photography as a Modern Economic Force

Napoleon III played an integral role in the development of photography as an industry. His regime's promotion of modernization, industry, new technology and mass consumption of material goods provided an ideal climate in which this new commercial medium could grow and thrive.

Technological advances in the 1850s marked the true beginning of the photographic industry in Paris. The key event was the introduction of albumen prints made from collodion on glass negatives in 1852. Until that time both amateur and professional photographers shared the field. After the development of the paper print, commercial photographers took over most of the industry. These professionals used the new process to make portraits and it soon superceded the daguerreotype as the method of choice for portraiture. The uses of the photograph broadened during the 1850s and 1860s when commercial photographers began to photograph industrial products, new monuments of engineering, and ancient ruins.

The carte-de-visite, a fad developed in the 1850s, proved another boon to the business of photography. The carte originally was a visiting card printed on paper. It was given to acquaintances and reflected the growing interest in personal image and identity during the 19th Century. Cartes were small and could be mass produced cheaply. Cartes also became a way for the new middle class to collect images of their favorite artists and heroes. Again, the development in photography mirrored the development of society at that time. These cartes-de-visites allowed the middle class to show off their collections and compete with each other. Here is an example of a carte-de-visite by André Disdéri.

André Disdéri. Uncut Sheet of Cartes de Visite, 1855[9]

[9] October 1st 2001 BoxCameras.com , <http://www.boxcameras.com/disdericdvsheet.html>