1050
albuminous glass. In 1855, he showed at the Exposition
Universalle, Paris views of the Alps (on this occasion,
the critic Ernest Lacan called him the “photographer
of the mountains”) in particular a panorama of Mont
Blanc composed of fourteen prints and one of the
Geneva Lake, “one of those scenes in front of which
one stops seized by surprise and admiration” (Louis
Figuier). In spite the many panels repainted, the sight
of Mont Blanc was appreciated for its smoothness:
“Nothing is more admirable nor more imposing than
this panorama. One recognizes there the feeling and
the key of a consumed artist, and, as for the exactitude
of the details, it is enough to have an idea of it, to
compare the photographic tests, placed around, with
the parts of the drawing which reproduce them. Not a
stone was forgotten, not a piece of ice has escaped the
scrupulous hand of the artist “(Ernest Lacan). In 1855
also, the Bisson brothers exhibited a 150 cm-long image
of Paris. Baldus, using the apparatus of Garella, showed
a picture of Mount-Gilds with the lake Chambon, 130
cm long, and a picture of the interior of the arenas of
Arles, both discussed by critics. At the 1867 Exposition
Universalle, the Abdullah brothers showed a panorama
of Constantinople that was 220 cm long.
One could also see panoramas at the exhibitions of
the Société française de photographie. In 1859, Sin-
igaglia, photographer of Padua, exhibited a picture of
Venice in ten prints, almost four meters long. In 1861,
Jeanrenaud, who used the apparatus of Sutton, exhibited
a panorama of Thoune, which Lacan considered to be
full of charm and harmony. In 1861, Baldus showed a
Panorama of Tuilleries and the Louvre, which offered
a view of two hundred degrees, about which a critic
said that it “ is beyond imagination, almost inducing
dizziness” (Ladimir). In 1865, Gueuvin exhibited two
panoramas of Paris taken from the Tower Jacques Saint,
each forming an angle of 180°, taken with the apparatus
of Koch and Wilz; Gaudin noted that they seemed to
have been taken from a single viewpoint after the juxta-
position of different negatives, so that the junction was
successful. In 1869, Koch and Wilz presented panoramic
pictures obtained with their apparatus: a panorama of
Paris capturing seven bridges, a great panorama of
Meudon, Bellevue, Sevres.
The panorama had various scientifi c applications,
like the technique of the photogrammetry of Colonel
Laussedat around 1850–1853 (land surveys and sol-
diers). Paul Perier, who had percieved the views of the
Alps de Martens not through photography, “but a kind
of geological plan, a work of geographer or engineer”
(1855), seemed to foresee the work of Aime Civiale,
who provided panoramas of mountains to the best
scientists, and more particularly geological, without
artistic claim. He showed some at the SFP; in 1863, he
showed a circular panorama close to Monte Moro and a
panorama of l’ Oberland; one of them measured eighty
centimeters high and four meters long.
It was necessary to await the manufacture of fl exible
fi lm in gelatino-bromide in the 1880s to see panoptiques
appear (complete view). In 1883, Moessard invented
the cylindrographe, patented in 1889 (same principle as
Martens): two prints were necessary to obtain a whole
panorama. In 1889, the apparatus of the Benoist brothers
made it possible to obtain a complete view on glass.
The most important invention was, in 1890, the
Cyclograph of Damoizeau. A camera is assembled on
a swivel slide on a circular plate. A frame with rollers
containing two reels of fi lms allows a compact device
and a reduced format of the apparatus as a whole. A
clockwork motor rotates a cylinder containing the fi lm,
and the same clockwork motor rotates the camera. The
same mechanism thus activates the rotation of the ap-
paratus and the unfolding of the fi lm in opposite direc-
tion, which makes it possible to produce images of great
clarity. The clockwork is at variable speed, involving a
more or less long rotation. A meter indicates the quantity
of fi lm available. An lens of 50 cm focus requires a 30
cm length plate and can produce a panorama of 3,14
m. It allows the use of lenses of different focuses and
thus the creation from views of considerable length.
This apparatus is characterized by its perfection and its
simplicity of operation. It was shown with the Colom-
bian Exhibition of Chicago in 1893 and taken again by
Sheldon to the United States.
In 1895, Ducos du Hauron discovered the principle
of the Microcosm (a silver plated ball refl ects the im-
age on to a fl at plate or fi lm). In 1899, Louis Lumière
invented Photorama which made it possible to see the
views of panoramic images and take pictures at the same
time (systems of drums). Photography then exceeded
the limits of the fi eld of ordinary vision by showing
on only one image what the human glance can see
only while moving. The image becomes the ground of
infi nite investigations, out of the reference mark of the
traditional prospect. From a faithful search for reproduc-
ing reality, this photographic technique leads to going
beyond this reality.
Helene BocardFurther Reading
G. Bapst, Essai sur l’histoire des panoramas et des dioramas,
extrait des rapports du jury international de l’Exposition
universelle de 1889, Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1889.
Gabriel Cromer, ‘‘Quelques épreuves et documents relatifs à
l’histoire de la photographie panoramique,’’ Bulletin de la
Société française de photographie, juin 1930.
G. Glanfi eld, ‘‘A Short History of Panoramic Cameras,” The
Photographic Collector, vol. 3, no. 2, Autumn 1982.
Panoramas. Collection Bonnemaison. Photographies 1850–1950,
Arles, Espace Van Gogh, juillet–septembre 1989, Actes-Sud,
1989.