579
featuring his photographs of architectural ruins in the
environs of Roanne. Just about all of his photography
addressed the theme of the preservation of historical
architecture. In the 1880s, he resumed writing articles
and manuals, addressing the photo-technical concerns of
the day and voicing a continued preference for working
with paper negatives. Following a record dating to 1895,
nothing is known about the remainder of his life.
See also: Le Gray, Gustave; Waxed Paper Negative
Processes; and Wet Collodion Negative.
Further Reading
Alligoridès, Anne, Stéphane Geoffray photographe (1827–après
1895) [Stéphane Geoffray, Photographer (1827-after 1895)],
Paris: Mémoire de DEA d’histoire de l’art, Université de
Paris-X-Nanterre [unpublished thesis], 1991.
Geoffray, Stéphane, Traité pratique pour l’emploi des papiers
du commerce en photographie [Practical Treatise on the Use
of Commercial Papers in Photography], Paris: A. Gaudin,
1855.
Geoffray, Stéphane, “Nouvelle méthode pour papier humide ou
sec [New Method for Wet or Dry Paper Negatives],” Cosmos,
24 March 1854.
Geoffray, Stéphane, “Céroléine sur verre et sur papier [Cerolein
on Glass and Paper],” La Lumière, 24 March 1855.
Geoffray, Stéphane, “Le collodion albuminé et la céroleine
[Albumenized Collodion and Cerolein],” La Lumière, 29
December 1855.
Geoffray, Stéphane, “Nouveau procédé de photographie sur
papier [New Photographic Process on Paper],” Cosmos, 11
January 1856.
Geoffray, Stéphane, “Application du gutta-percha aux papiers
pour collodion [Application of Gutta-Percha to Paper for
Collodion],” La Lumière, 5 April 1856.
Geoffray, Stéphane, “Collodion sur papier [Collodion on Paper],”
Cosmos, 11 April 1856.
Jammes, André and Eugenia Parry Janis, The Art of French Calo-
type, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983.
GEOLOGY
Photography’s function in the historiography of earth
science is peculiarly complex. Geology as a modern
discipline emerged in late eighteenth-century Europe
from what had been a broad array of philosophical in-
quiries into nature. Conservative accounts of the earth’s
age came under particular scrutiny as the empirical
evidence in the fi eld indicated that millions and not
merely thousands of years had past since the planet’s
beginnings. Theories of origin focused specifi cally on
opposing arguments of the neptunists and plutonists,
involving massive underwater and volcanic generations
of earth forms, respectively, and whether cataclysmic
events during relatively short intervals had contributed
to the extremes of the terrestrial surface (catastrophism).
By the middle of the nineteenth century most geologists
had come to embrace variations of the notion that rela-
tively uniform conditions over time were responsible for
present-day appearances (uniformitarianism), though
precisely what circumstances of movement had taken
place were still under considerable debate.
Several kinds of delineation for the credible illustra-
tion of rock stratifi cation, coastal formation, mountain
building, and other forms of geological curiosity had
been established during this period. Landscape painting
and drawing, part of a growing interest in travel and top-
ographical survey and aesthetic regard for the spectacle
of nature, also served as background for the geological
and geographical comprehension of the planet. Thus,
by the time of photography’s fi rst decades, the ground
had been broken for both symbolic and realist visual
communication. The cultured society that recognized
geology as an important scientifi c discipline also real-
ized the importance of a medium that could record things
in minute detail (e.g., Fox Talbot, Daguerre, Herschel,
Arago). In 1841 Robert Hunt published his A Popular
Treatise on the Art of Photography. A geologist himself,
Hunt called his readers’ attention to the possibilities
of the camera as applied to nature. The art critic and
amateur naturalist John Ruskin wrote passionately
and often knowledgably about rocks, mountains, and
glaciers. Although later unfavorably disposed toward
photography as a form of artistic expression, Ruskin
had practiced daguerreoptypy from the late 1840s to
the mid 1850s, producing some of the earliest instances
of Alpine scenery.
The photograph began to fulfi ll its promise as a mode
of documentation when landscape photography and
expeditionary work converged at mid-century, proving
important not only for theoretical science, but also for
reconnaissance, economic development, and territorial
appropriation in the cause of nationalist and imperial-
ist interests. By the 1850s Britain, continental Europe,
and the United States each had scientifi c organizations
that served to advance geological research. Studies
of sediment and erosion, rock and fossil distribution,
glacial action, valley and mountain formation were all
subjects of domestic fi eld work and theorization. Such
subjects appear as intentionally selected in the work of
both professionals and serious amateurs who explored
the rocky coasts of Britain, the rugged terrain of Wales,
and the great massifs of the Pyrenees and the Alps. John
Dillwyn Llewelyn evinced his scientifi c background in
his photographs of the Cornish peninsula. John Stewart,
brother-in-law of Herschel, exhibited pictures of the Pyr-
enees in 1852 to the glowing acclaim of the photographic
community, while the Alps occupied the attentions
of William Bedford and William England. In France,
Auguste-Rosalie Bisson, brother of fellow practitioner
and partner Louis-Auguste, received attention for his
photographs taken in 1862 on his second attempt to
ascend Mont Blanc. In an effort to convey the spectacle
and physical extent of the ranges beyond the capacity