1: Vive La France: An Introduction to Early French Photography
In the 1850s, in the years after the invention of photography, the great early pioneers produced some of the medium’s masterpieces. First anticipating and then running along Impressionist painting, this engagement with the monuments, landscapes and people of France included exquisite salt prints and beautiful albumen prints.
Vive la France presents a selection of these early photographs to demonstrate its diversity and also reveals that the work of the greatest early figures in the history of photography is still available and comparatively affordable.
Prices start at £350 and many pictures are specially priced
James Hyman comments:
“As a collector I was first drawn to the famous photographers of the 1920s such as Edward Weston in America and Man Ray in France, but soon I discovered early photography which had never been on my radar. It very quickly became an obsession. As with a painting by Monet or by Pissarro, the French photographers of the 1850s and 1860s jolt us into another time and place. There is a sensuality and intimacy to these works with their range of colours (these works are monochrome, not black and white) and a hand-made feel that is seldom encountered in modern and contemporary photography. I hope that this exhibition will serve as a taster of this high point in the history of photography.”
INFORMATION
James Hyman Photography Ltd
16 Savile Row
London W1S 3PL
tel. +44 (0)20 7494 3857
http://www.jameshymangallery.com
[email protected]
Open by appointment
