Tournachon, Gaspard Félix (Nadar)

SUBJECT AREA: Photography, film and optics

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b. 1820

d. 1910 Paris, France

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French photographer and photographic innovator, pioneer of balloon photography.

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He began his photographic career as a daguerreotypist and at an early date called himself "Nadar", the name by which he was known for the rest of his life. Between 1855 and 1858 he made captive balloon ascents with the idea of producing a topographic map of Paris from aerial photographs. Nadar was also one of the first photographers to take successful photographs with the aid of artificial illuminants; using Bunsen batteries to power electric arc lamps, he was able to take views of the underground catacombs in Paris during 1861 and 1862. This exercise captured the imagination of the Paris public, and Nadar's work was widely acclaimed. In December 1863 he exhibited portraits taken by electric light, and later used magnesium illuminants to photograph underground canal construction. For many years Nadar practised as a photographer with his son Paul, a relationship that was sometimes stormy. Paul eventually took the name Nadar for himself and was, in turn, to become one of France's most celebrated photographers.

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Bibliography

29 October 1858, British patent no. 2,425 (balloon photography).

Further Reading

J.M.Eder, 1945, History of Photography, trans. E.Epstean, New York.

H.Gernsheim and A.Gernsheim, 1969, The History of Photography, rev. edn, London.

JW