Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard

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Portrait of Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, 1869

Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard (born August 2, 1802 , † April 28, 1872 in Lille ) was a French cloth merchant, accomplished chemist and enthusiastic amateur photographer. He is considered to be one of the most important people in the development of photography.

life and work

Blanquart-Evrard began his studies in chemistry in 1826 and learned the calotype (also talbotype ) in 1844 . As a chemist, he recognized the disadvantages of the calotype: the need for time-consuming manipulations and the unevenness of the prints. In January 1847 he published an improved calotype process before the Academy of Sciences in Paris. He improved the process in such a way that he no longer smeared the photosensitive chemicals on the papers, but let them float on the solution. This gave it a significantly more homogeneous surface, improved light sensitivity and finer reproduction of the tonal values. From then on, he devoted his professional career entirely to photography.

In 1850 he developed printing on albumen paper .

With his background knowledge of the fabric industry, Blanquart-Evrard soon recognized the possibilities of mass production for photography. In 1851 he opened the Imprimerie Photographique Blanquart-Evrard with Hippolyte Fockedey . In this copy workshop he ran the production of positive prints from paper negatives with around 40 female employees. The company was trend-setting in many aspects. Industrial production processes were developed with which up to 300 copies per day and per negative could be made. These copies were then pasted into printed books. In 1855, Blanquart-Evrard had to close the company again, despite efficient assembly line work, because it could not withstand the competition from photolithography and heliography .

The Imprimerie Photographique Blanquart-Evrard is considered the first photographic art publisher. Numerous illustrated books with photographs emerged from it. They show what interested the contemporary audience and what was technically feasible. His first album "Album photographique de l'artiste et de l'amateur" is a catalog of the photographic genres. Blanquart-Evrard published a. a. Photos by the photographers Louis De Clercq , Maxime Du Camp , John Beasley Greene and Auguste Salzmann .

literature

  • Michel Frizot (Ed.): New History of Photography , Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-8290-1327-2
  • Gerda Peterich : Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard - The Gutenberg of Photography (in: Image , No. 50, April 1957, 80–89)

Web links

Commons : Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Blanquart-Evrard, Louis Désiré
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French cloth merchant, chemist and amateur photographer
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1802
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1872
Place of death Lille