Missions Héliographiques
The mission was a héliographique 1851 by the Commission des monuments historiques commissioned photographic expedition.
History
1851, at a time of rapid development of photography, instructed the Commission des monuments historiques, led by Prosper Mérimée, the photographic recording of a series of monuments to which they operated the remediation; among other things, the restoration of several churches in Carcassonne by Viollet -le- Duc.
The participating photographers were:
- Gustave Le Gray ( Loire Valley )
- Auguste Mestral (central France)
- Édouard Baldus (southeast)
- Hippolyte Bayard (Brittany, Normandy )
- Henri Le Secq (Northeast)
By the winter of 1851 caused more than 300 photographs, some of it is still missing. The program served as a model for numerous other projects of this kind, about the mission photographique DATAR and the Farm Security Administration in the United States.