Louis-Auguste Bisson

Louis -Auguste Bisson (* April 21, 1814 in Paris, France, † May 12, 1876 ) was a French photographer and photographic pioneer.

Life and work

Louis -Auguste Bisson was the son of Heraldry painter Louis- François Bisson (1795-1865) and the elder brother of the photographer Auguste- Rosalie Bisson ( 1826-1900 ).

Louis -Auguste Bisson took drawing lessons at home, studied architecture and worked as an architect at the Paris City Hall.

In 1841, Louis -François Bisson began experimenting with daguerreotypes. Just one year later developed Louis -Auguste Bisson, after which he recorded in 1841 contact with Louis Daguerre, a way to stabilize his photographs permanently.

Father and older son opened a photo studio in 1841, which was soon known throughout Paris. The younger brother Auguste- Rosalie rose soon after, in a partnership for the photo studio with Louis -Auguste, and the two became as brothers Bisson ( " Bisson Frères " ) famous.

In 1860 they accompanied Napoleon III. during his visit to Savoy. The brothers made remarkable images of the local landscape. In 1861, the two climbed the Mont Blanc, along with twenty-five carriers for their extensive photo equipment.

Your photos were developed in collodion process, with very large negatives, often up to 30 cm x 40 cm in size.

One of the most famous works of the brothers Bisson is the only known photo of the composer Frédéric Chopin.

In 1977 photographs were shown of two brothers at documenta 6 in Kassel in the famous photography department, which was the context of contemporary art in the context of " 150 years of photography."

Literature and sources

• Catalog for Documenta 6: Volume 1: painting, sculpture / Environment, Performance; Volume 2: Photography, Film, Video; Volume 3: drawings, utopian design, books; Kassel 1977 ISBN 3-920453-00- X
• Honnef, Klaus: 150 Years of Photography ( Advanced special issue of Art Forum International: 150 Years of Photography III / Photography at documenta 6, Volume 22 ); Mainz, Frankfurt am Main ( Zweitausendeins ) 1977
• Hannavy, John ( ed.): Encyclopedia of Nineteenth - Century Photography; New York 2005 ISBN 978-0415972352