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were opened for all amateurs and professionals. Almost
all artistic societies were dedicated to amateurs. The
professional associations considered themselves as
genuine companies union.
Most organizations developed themselves after 1875,
following the simplifi cation of the photographic tech-
niques, particularly the introducing of the gelatin-silver
bromide. As Jean-Pierre Chaline, the French historian,
exposed, in France, academies grew up between 1875
and 1884. The expansion of the photographic associa-
tions’ foundation took place later than the development
of classic academies. For the photographic societies, this
happened above all between 1887 and 1896.
These societies or associations established the
scientifi c or artistic studies like a bond of the nation.
Upper classes people gathered themselves to exchange
on scientifi c or artistic experiments and knowledge.
The fi rst photographic society was called the Société
héliographique, created in 1851 to develop photography
and its applications but dissolved in 1853, the same year
the Royal photographic Society was founded in Great
Britain. One year later, in 1854, a new society, also based
in Paris, called the Société française de photographie,
replaced it.
Founded on the Académie des Sciences exemplifi -
cation, this society was much more science-oriented:
its aim was to ameliorate and diffuse photographic
techniques (See Articles of association, Bulletin de la
Société française de photographie, January 1855). They
met each month to talk about both little improvements
and important discoveries. As its model, practice was
the only way to recognize a new technique. Researchers
came to present their invention before the Society. Then,
a little group (fi ve or six people) formed a commission
to experiment the novelties. One month later, they had
to give their conclusions and judge them in a report.
This account was published in the Bulletin de la Société
française de photographie, the Society’s journal released
every month for the members since January 1855. Most
of them were amateurs: they did not live of their passion
but had enough time to experiment and devoted their
life to photography.
At this time, knowledge was freely diffused and
scientists offered to the community the results of their
researches, based on common exchange. Transmission
was the main way to evolve. This society became the
pattern for all others. The Société boulonnaise de pho-
tographie located in Boulogne, in North of France, in
1856, even asked to use its status as a model.
The centralized organization of French politics
probably infl uenced the creation of the photographic
sociability: the most important of them, and the fi rst,
was located in Paris. Each town wanted to have its own
scientifi c or historical academy. In the French country-
side, photographic associations have been principally
founded by a member of this main society: opened to
every kind of members, often with a library, a laboratory
and a newspaper dedicated to the photographic news
and the life of the association.
As time went by, the addressed subjects evolved.
At the beginning, before the 1870s, the different tech-
niques—the collodion process, the negative albumen
process, the collodio-albumen process—and the differ-
ent cameras were the most important questions. With
the gelatin-silver bromide’s arrival, new topics appeared,
such as picture quality, snapshot speed, and above all the
recognition of the photography as an art and not only
as a scientifi c help.
More than the professional photographers, the ama-
teur members of these groups contributed to ameliorate
and diffuse the techniques. The photographic societies
organized courses and lectures—notably from the 22
November 1891 to the 10th of April 1892, at the Conser-
vatoire national des Arts et Métiers, in Paris—explaining
the processes, the best way to choose the camera, and
how to use the best technique at the best moment.
Most of the members used to write books and articles
to spread photography to the general public. One of the
best known popularizer in France was Albert Londe,
publisher of The snapshot photography (La photogra-
phie instantanée) in 1886 and The modern photography
(La photographie moderne) in 1888. The will of the
French photographic society was to give a status to
photography, between science and art.
In the 1890s, the French society changed: entertain-
ment became part of life not only for the upper classes,
but for middle classes as well. With the gelatin-silver
bromide and the reducing size of the camera—the most
known, but not the only one, was probably George
Eastman’s Kodak box, photographic democratization
was on its way. Photography was used during a jaunt,
a trip, or to capture the most important life times of the
families.
Following these changes, appeared a new kind of
association led by Albert Londe, Maurice Bucquet,
and Gaston Tissandier. Its name was the Société
d’excursions des amateurs photographes created the 4th
August in 1887. Its purpose was to “organize excursions
and practical lectures for the development and the dif-
fusion of the photographic knowledge” (“Société ayant
pour but d’organiser des excursions et des conférences
pratiques en vue du développement et de la diffusion des
connaissances photographiques,” in the fi rst article of
association). Several societies of this kind were created
in France, in almost every department.
At the same period, another type of photographers’
group appeared. Their members were also amateurs,
but with a different aim. These artistic societies, the
photo-clubs, existed since 1888, date of the Photo-club
de Paris birth. One more time, this association was the