André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri died in a public hospital in Nice, France on 4 October, 1889. He died as a destitute, another unknown face on a hospital bed. And with him passed away a former wealthy innovator and the frontier of a whole new kind of image making.
Early Life
Photography had taken the world by storm during the 1800s, and the daguerreotype was the most popular medium to make images. Disdéri had dedicated his life to painting and the theater, and an inclination towards photography was inevitable.
In 1847, he turned to photography full time, and began his career as a daguerreotypist in Brest, France.
The Business of Photography
Making daguerreotypes was a long and tedious process. Moreover, Disdéri realised the need for mass producing images, specifically for the French bourgeoisie, who were keen to have their portraits made. It was these incidents which sparked off an idea, which would be the beginning of his very profitable career.
Moving Studios and Innovations
In 1854, he set up a studio in Paris, the hub of all photography-related activity. At that point, photographs also doubled up as visiting cards, which Disdéri built upon and invented the carte de visite. A carte de visite printed eight photographs on a single sheet and were mounted on card paper. These were not only easier to produce, they were also cheaper than daguerreotypes.
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This story is from the January 2021 edition of Better Photography.
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