Gaspard-Felix Tournachon alias Nadar was one of the first portrait photographers. His path began in Lyon, France, where he left his medical studies to become a journalist. In 1839 he moved back to his birthplace Paris. At first he could not make a good career decision. He tried his hand at drawing, theater and also in industry until he created the satirical magazine "La Revue Comique" in 1849, in which he opposed the Paris Commune with different artists by means of illustrations. One of the artists was his half-brother Adrien alias Nadar jeune, who had previously been trained as a painter Picot through Nadar's connections.
At the age of 34 he married Ernestine who was 16 years younger. In the same year he devoted himself to photography. His attention was focused on the psychological recording of his models. "In order to produce an intimate image and not just a banal portrait, the result of sheer coincidence, you have to put yourself in the model's shoes, you have to capture her thoughts and even her character," Nadar describes to explain his working method. To do this, Nadar sometimes talked for hours until the model took on a more relaxed posture. At the time, this was not particularly easy, as the model had to remain in front of the lens for a few seconds. For this purpose, he also used accessories that helped the model to rest but were invisible in the picture. His clientele consisted mainly of prominent writers, some of whom he was friends with.
At the battle of Solferino Nadar took the first aerial photographs. For this he constructed a propeller airship, which inspired Jules Verne to write his novel "Five Weeks in a Balloon". Four years later, Nadar and his wife travelled in the airship from Paris to Hanover, but it crashed, so that both he and his wife had to go to hospital with serious injuries. Nevertheless he loved aviation so much that in the same year he became president of the newly founded "Société d'encouragement de la navigation aérienne au moyen du plus lourd que l'air", which promoted the construction of flying machines. He finally achieved fame through his long exposures in the Paris catacombs.
His only son Paul followed in his father's footsteps and took over the studio after his death.
Gaspard-Felix Tournachon alias Nadar was one of the first portrait photographers. His path began in Lyon, France, where he left his medical studies to become a journalist. In 1839 he moved back to his birthplace Paris. At first he could not make a good career decision. He tried his hand at drawing, theater and also in industry until he created the satirical magazine "La Revue Comique" in 1849, in which he opposed the Paris Commune with different artists by means of illustrations. One of the artists was his half-brother Adrien alias Nadar jeune, who had previously been trained as a painter Picot through Nadar's connections.
At the age of 34 he married Ernestine who was 16 years younger. In the same year he devoted himself to photography. His attention was focused on the psychological recording of his models. "In order to produce an intimate image and not just a banal portrait, the result of sheer coincidence, you have to put yourself in the model's shoes, you have to capture her thoughts and even her character," Nadar describes to explain his working method. To do this, Nadar sometimes talked for hours until the model took on a more relaxed posture. At the time, this was not particularly easy, as the model had to remain in front of the lens for a few seconds. For this purpose, he also used accessories that helped the model to rest but were invisible in the picture. His clientele consisted mainly of prominent writers, some of whom he was friends with.
At the battle of Solferino Nadar took the first aerial photographs. For this he constructed a propeller airship, which inspired Jules Verne to write his novel "Five Weeks in a Balloon". Four years later, Nadar and his wife travelled in the airship from Paris to Hanover, but it crashed, so that both he and his wife had to go to hospital with serious injuries. Nevertheless he loved aviation so much that in the same year he became president of the newly founded "Société d'encouragement de la navigation aérienne au moyen du plus lourd que l'air", which promoted the construction of flying machines. He finally achieved fame through his long exposures in the Paris catacombs.
His only son Paul followed in his father's footsteps and took over the studio after his death.
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