419
subjects and portrayed them absorbed in some activity
such as reading or writing, rather than looking directly
at the camera.
Along with an ever-growing desire to have one’s
portrait made, the Second Empire French public also
acquired a taste for collecting carte-de-visite portraits
of contemporary celebrities such as political leaders;
actors and actresses in various roles; and literary and
artistic fi gures. Disdéri, as well as other photographers,
nurtured and exploited this market through the 1850s
and 1860s. Between 1860 and 1862 Disdéri published
fortnightly one-franc installments of a carte-de-visite
portrait accompanied by a biography on the sitter. This
series called Galerie des contemporains [Gallery of
Contemporaries] could be purchased in volumes of
twenty-fi ve or could be selected by subscribers accord-
ing to their own taste.
Disdéri’s carte-de-visite portrait business enjoyed a
great success through the 1850s and 1860s. This was, in
part, due to the prime location of his studio as well as his
carefully cultivated reputation and his numerous assis-
tants. Records show that in 1855 he employed as many
as seventy-seven individuals. During this period Disdéri
also took steps to expand his business. In conjunction
with the 1855 Paris Exposition Universelle Disdéri
formed the Société du Palais de l’Industrie and obtained
the rights to photograph all the products and works of
art exhibited at the Exposition. In 1861 he opened a
studio specializing in equestrian portraits in St. Cloud.
His sister and her husband oversaw the production and
sale of photographic paper at several locations in Paris
between 1863 and 1864. In March 1865 Disdéri opened
a studio on Brooke Street in London which was run by
a Mister Léon. He also opened an equestrian portrait
studio in West London in early 1868.
In the 1850s and 1860s Disdéri patented several other
photographic inventions as well. His patents included
one for the preparation of a positive paper which did
not require the addition of gold salts to a toning bath
in March 1858, and in March and April 1867 he pat-
ented in Paris and London “a procès de photomoulure
pour impression et gravure” which was very similar
to the Woodburytype process. Disdéri also published
several more books and brochures, Renseignements
photographiques in 1855; Application de la photog-
raphie à la reproduction des oeuvres d’art, a brochure
in 1861; and in 1862 his best known book, L’Art de la
photographie which was later translated into English as
Universal Textbook of Photography in 1864.
Disdéri consistently exhibited his work during this
period as well. In 1854 he had a one man show at the
Studio Disdéri. In 1855 he exhibited at the Société
Internationale Industrie in Amsterdam and at the Paris
Exposition Universelle. He won a medal for his enlarged
photography at the 1862 London International Exhibi-
tion and also exhibited at the 1867 Paris Exposition
Universelle. His work was also shown at the Société
française de photographie biennial exhibitions in 1857
and 1859.
Despite the fact that many of Disdéri’s photographic
endeavors thrived through the 1850s and 1860s, he,
nonetheless, experienced some great fi nancial blows,
declaring bankruptcy several times and was forced to
sell aspects of his businesses. Disdéri was, however,
resilient and able to regroup, fi nd new backers, and open
up shop again and again. As the carte-de-viste trend
slowed down in the late 1860s Disdéri followed suit by
switching to the larger cabinet format portrait. His work
in this format was not very well-received.
All of Paris was greatly affected by the political
events of the Franco Prussian War (1870-71) and the
Commune of 1871. When the Prussians began to bom-
bard Paris, Disdéri, like many Parisian photographers,
began to document the current events going on around
them. With the limitations of photography at the time,
their work consisted of recording damaged buildings,
posing soldiers, and sometimes creating photomontages
to reconstruct important events. During the Commune
of 1871 Disdéri recorded the areas of Paris that suffered
damage by the Communards.
Disdéri eventually moved to Nice and set up a new
photographic business around 1879. He returned to Paris
in 1888 or 1889 and died on October 4, 1889 in the
Hôpital Ste.-Anne, an institution for indigents, alcohol-
ics and the mentally ill. A large body of Disdéri’s work
can be found at the Biblothèque Nationale because of the
dépôt légal which was instituted in 1851 requiring that
copies of all photographic images which were to be sold
commercially be deposited in a public archive. Due to
the high volume of his production, cartes-de-visite and
uncut cartes-de-visite sheets by Disdéri can be found in
numerous collections in Europe and the United States.
Carolyn PeterBiography
André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri was born on March 28,
1819 in Paris to Jean André Disdéri a cloth merchant
and his wife Louise Eugénie. He was the eldest of six
children. As a young man he briefl y studied painting,
and between 1837 and 1840 acted in the Théâtre de
Grenelle which presented melodramas, vaudevilles,
and comedies. The death of his father in 1840 obligated
Disdéri as the eldest son to take on the responsibility of
working in his father’s unstable fabric and accessories
business to support his mother and siblings. In 1843 he
married Geneviève Elisabeth Francart. They had several
children, but only one, Jules (c.1851–1880) survived
to adulthood. After the failure of several clothing and
accessories businesses Disdéri went into photography.