Photography Exhibition Galerie Roger-Viollet – Ernest & Henri Roger, Brothers, Scientists, Photographers

Henri Roger (1869-1946) and his older brother Ernest (1864-1943) were two brilliant minds who left their mark on both science and photography. As children, they were introduced to collodion photography together, a first experience that heralded many others.

After completing his scientific studies, Ernest specialised in magnetic waves and X-rays. In 1898, he worked with Eugène Ducretet on the development of wireless telegraphy. Ernest went into partnership with Eugène Ducretet’s son, Fernand, to set up a company that developed a number of inventions used by the French army in the First World War, and then mass-produced wireless sets for the general public.
In 1889 Henri graduated from the École Centrale as a chemical engineer. He went on to pursue an industrial career, taking over a bronze lighting factory where, thanks to his training, he introduced a number of energy innovations.

Ernest and Henri used photography to document both their scientific experiments and their bourgeois family life at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th centuries. Radio stations and aerials, the construction of the Eiffel Tower, weekends in the country and holidays by the sea, world exhibitions and trips abroad – everything was photographed by these enlightened amateurs.
Henri excelled in his humorous research into trick photography, which he called ‘bilocations’ and ‘trilocations’. He produced images in which he and his brother, and later his own children, appeared in duplicate or triplicate, creating surreal and poetic sketches.
Henri continued to experiment, using magnesium flashes for his ‘Photos Poudres’ and making ‘Projections horizontales’ using Bertillon forensic identification equipment, diverted from its original purpose.
From the manufacture of equipment to the shooting and developing processes, each stage of his photographic practice was described in detail in numerous notebooks, reflecting both his ingenuity and his scientific rigour.
In 1892 Ernest married Louise-Élisabeth Miet, with whom he had two daughters, the subjects of his many photographs.
In 1900, Henri married Jeanne Viollet and took the name ‘Roger-Viollet’ to distinguish himself from the other members of the Roger family. He had six children, the eldest of whom, Hélène, founded the Roger-Viollet photographic agency in 1938.
Following the death of Hélène Roger-Viollet in 1985, the 10,000 photographs taken by the two Roger brothers are now kept at the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris and distributed exclusively by the Roger-Viollet agency.

Ernest & Henri Roger
Brothers, scientists, photographers

From 6 March to 31 May 2025
Roger-Viollet Gallery
6 rue de Seine 75006 Paris