PIERRE PETIT (1832-1909) Pierre Petit was trained in the studio of a famous Parisian photographer, André Adolphe Disdéri (1819-1889). In 1862, he became "the photographer of French bishops" : taking the photographs of more than 25 000 clerics. At the same time, he undertook a gigantic project: a "Gallery of People in the Limelight", consisting of 1500 portraits with biographical information about those making the headlines in the worlds of entertainment, culture or politics. During the 1870 Franco-Prussian war, and then the Paris Commune, he took refuge at Versailles, and photographed the damage caused by the fighting. He then sold his photos to individual customers but also to newspapers, which published them as engravings. Less controversially, as early as 1855, he photographed Universal Exhibitions, in particular the 1878 "Exposition Universelle" in Paris, where he immortalized the Statue of Liberty's head. Moreover, he recorded the evolution of Bartholdi's work during the assembly in Paris and eventually the official donation of the statue in 1884. The photograph was probably commissioned by the sculptor himself. CHARLES MARVILLE (1816-1879) Trained as a painter and engraver by trade, Charles Marville published his first photographs in 1851 in the form of an album. Although his first pictures represent landscapes, he is famous for his photographs of paintings and monuments. Known as the "Photographer of the City of Paris", he immortalized, as early as 1862, the transformations of the Capital during préfet Haussmann's renovation work. He also recorded the restoration work carried out by contemporary architects such as Viollet-le-Duc, who worked on the Sainte-Chapelle and the Cathedral at Chartres, and for whom he photographed the head of Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty. Later, he became the "Photographer of National Museums", which led him to photograph, among others, the paintings at the Louvre Museum. Charles Marville is also known for inventing the portable plate holder, a revolutionary device which allowed photographers to take photos without having to change the photosensitive paper in a dark room. previouspages 1 - 2 - 3next