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engineer and teacher at the Ecole industrielle de Gand
(Ghent Industrial College), where he gave public courses
in photography for over thirty years, beginning in 1862.
One of his pupils, Léonce Rommelaere (1839–1887),
was appointed chemist at the Musée de l’Industrie in
1870, where he too instituted the practise of free public
lessons in photography.
Very soon after its foundation in 1854, the Société
française de photographie, pre-eminent in France, be-
came a natural focus for the aspirations Belgian photog-
raphers eager to prove themselves on an international
level. Many leading practitioners joined, such as Cheva-
lier L.Pt. Dubois de Nehaut, Edmond Fierlants, and the
great specialist in micro- and astronomical photography
Adolphe Neyt (1830–1892). And it is thanks to member-
ship of the Société française de photographie that the
work of Louise le Ghait, the only signifi cant woman
calotypist in Brussels, has been saved from oblivion.
The French body also contributed to the success of
the earliest photography exhibitions held in Belgium in
1856 and 1857. Photography had previously occupied
a minor place in the state-sponsored trade fairs run un-
der the aegis of the Association pour l’encouragement
et le développement des arts industriels en Belgique
(Association for the promotion and development of
industrial arts in Belgium). Fearing that local produc-
tion was lagging behind the international competition,
Edouard Romberg, director-general for fi ne arts in the
interior ministry, took the initiative to transform the
event into a full-fl edged photography exhibition for two
years running. The 1856 exhibition, at which the Sociéte
française de Photographie exhibited collectively, had a
considerable impact. The purpose of stimulating local
production was implicit in the nature of the trade fair,
as one commentator observed: “Belgian photographs
have been far surpassed by those from other coun-
tries... Belgium will derive most benefi t with regard to
photographic progress, from the lessons given by her
neighbours” (Thomas Phipson, “Universal Exhibition
of Photography, Brussels,” Journal of the Photographic
Society [of London], 3 (21 October 1856): 146, reprinted
from Cosmos, 9 (3 October 1856): 345).
Belgium had to wait nearly twenty years and the
creation of its fi rst photographic society before an
exhibition of equal signifi cance would be organized.
The Association belge de Photographie was founded in
1874 as a national and offi cial body with King Leopold
II as patron. The initiators were De Vylder and Rom-
melaere, who were appointed respectively fi rst president
and general secretary, and two young engineers, Paul
Davreux (1845–1905) and Léon Laoureux (1845–1915).
A founding membership of 143 grew steadily decade
by decade, from 200 in 1880 and 381 in 1890 to 650 in
1898 and 727 in 1905. It would remain a strong (if lat-
terly less predominant) force in the domain in Belgium
until the outbreak of the second world war, when its
collections and library were dispersed.
Throughout its existence, the Association belge de
Photographie remained true to its twin purpose of act-
ing as a springboard for artistic creation and scientifi c
advance. Article 2 of the articles of association reads:
“Son but est purement artistique et scientifi que. Elle
poussera au développement des progrès scientifi ques
par des réunions périodiques, des communications,
l’essai des nouveaux procédés, des expositions, et si
les ressources le permettent, par la publication des faits
les plus intéressants” (Its purpose is purely artistic and
scientifi c. It will promote the development of scientifi c
progress by means of regular meetings, communica-
tions, experimenting new processes, exhibitions, and,
if resources allow, by the publication of news reports.)
Despite the explicit disavowal of commercial interest,
the Association was a broad church, counting many
professional photographers and owners of supply houses
amongst the membership and offi cers, such as Joseph
Maes, president from 1889 to 1895. Its breadth of
membership and scope proved an advantage, enabling
many functions to be delegated and practical work to
be carried out at monthly meetings of the regional sec-
tions—initially Brussels, Liege, and Ghent, followed by
Antwerp in 1890, Namur in 1893, and Mons in 1901.
Given the centripetal force of the Association, the few
independent local clubs set up in the wake of the growth
in amateur photography in the 1880s made little impact.
Exception may be made for the Cercle Photographique
de Bruges, founded in 1887 as an offshoot of the Excel-
sior literary society, in a part of Belgium which failed to
produce a regional section of the Association, and the
Photo-Club de Belgique, founded in 1895, an amateur
body of excursionist tendencies and a total membership
of around 100.
The Association belge de Photographie, in fulfi lment
of its mission, organized international exhibitions of
photography, both images and material, in 1875, 1883,
and 1891. It was also present at the jubilee fair held to
celebrate fi fty years of nationhood in 1880 (and at which
Désiré Van Monckhoven was honoured with a display of
his publications) and the international exhibitions held
in Antwerp in 1885 and 1894, and Brussels in 1888.
With its presiding spirit of internationalism, the pic-
torialist movement quickly gained ground in Belgium,
infl uenced both by proselytising of the Linked Ring and
by adherents of the Photo-Club de Paris, where Edouard
Hannon (1853–1931) regularly exhibited. the Linked
Ring counted two Belgians among its members—the
multi-talented Brussels professional Alexandre Drains
(1855–1925), and textile merchant Hector Colard
(1851–1923), whose international outlook made him an
ideal intermediary for interpreting and presenting, to a
Belgian audience, the diverse intellectual and aesthetic