Gabriel Veyre was an early
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
and
photographer
A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographe ...
born in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, but mainly known for his work in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
and
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
Biography
Veyre graduated in
pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...
from
Lyon University. In 1896, he traveled along with
Claude Ferdinand Bon Bernard to
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, in order to show the early films made by the
Lumière Brothers
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
* Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People
*Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV
* Institut Lumière, ...
and to exploit the
cinematograph
Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...
.
Between 1896 and 1897, he directed and produced 35 films in Mexico, with Von Bernard as the camera operator. Many of those films feature the Mexican president
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
in daily activities.
After leaving Mexico, he continued touring
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
. His films and
autochromes were presented in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in the
1900 Exposition Universelle.
![Enfants annamites, Gabriel Veyre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Enfants_annamites%2C_Gabriel_Veyre.jpg)
He continued his work in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
where he also worked as a correspondent for ''
L'Illustration
''L'Illustration'' was a weekly French language, French newspaper published in Paris from 1843 to 1944. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in France then, a ...
''. He published the book ''Dans l'intimité du Sultan'' in 1905. Veyre remained in Casablanca until his death in 1936.
Some of his work is preserved at the
Cinémathèque Française
The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...
.
Bibliography
* Gabriel Veyre, ''Dans l'intimité du Sultan, au Maroc 1901-1905'', reissued in 2009, 251p.
*Philippe Jacquier et Marion Pranal, ', éd. Institut Lumière / Actes Sud, 1996, 289p.
*Farid Abdelouahab, Philippe Jacquier et Marion Pranal, ''Le Maroc de Gabriel Veyre : 1901-1936'', Kubik Editions, 2005, 191p.
External links
*
*
Collection Gabriel Veyre
1871 births
1936 deaths
French film directors
French photographers
University of Lyon alumni
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