:''The photographer Jules David is not to be confused with the lithographer
Jules David
Jean-Baptiste David (called Jules David; 1808–1892) was a French painter and lithographer.
His illustrations appeared in many books and magazines.
He was particularly known for his illustrations of contemporary Parisian fashions.
Early years ...
''.
Jules David, also Jules David-Cavaz (16 April 1848 – 8 October 1923), was a French photographer. In France, he was one of the first professional photographers to specialize in school photography. With his specialty, he built up an international career, often returning to schools, institutions and companies that he had worked with previously. Based in Levallois-Perret near Paris, he worked throughout Europe, and beyond, for almost forty years, traveling as far as Norway, Russia, Greece and Brazil.
Life
Jules David-Cavaz was born the son of Jean David-Cavaz and Françoise Capitant in the hamlet of Charvin, near the village of
Pinsot
Pinsot () is a former commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Le Haut-Bréda.
in the
Isère
Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019., 'Negentiende-eeuwse schoolfoto's van Franse fotograaf Jules David' (in Dutch), in: ''De Maasgouw'', nr. 139 (2020–4), page 122.
Little is known about the first 20 years of his life. Nor do we know where he learned his photographic skills. In 1867, nineteen years old, he worked as an independent "group photographer" (''photographe des groupes''). In 1869 he was working with the photographer Claude Bretagne (1824–1880) in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
, Belgium. In 1870–1871 he served in the French army during the Franco-Prussian War. He left the army in August 1871 as a sergeant major.
In 1873 David opened, together with Bretagne, a photo studio at the rue Gravel 54 in Levallois-Perret. The studio advertised specifically with "school photographs" (''photographies des écoles''), whereby schools included secondary schools, boarding schools, teacher training colleges and military academies. The association with Bretagne ended after two or three years, in 1875 or 1876, after which David set up his own studio at the rue Gravel 50. Levallois-Perret was to remain his home base for the rest of his life. After a short stay at the rue Trézel 19, in 1879 he moved to rue des Courcelles 90. In 1897 he won a bronze medal at the Brussels International Exposition. From 1902 to 1910 he lived in the Rue Rivay in Levallois-Perret.
On 8 October 1874 Jules David married Marie Cécile Mathilde Daman (1851-1929) in Leuven, Belgium, where his wife was born.Jules David-Cavaz, official death certificate. Some sources indicate that David became a wealthy man. After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he volunteered to pay for a monument commemorating the dead in his birthplace Pinsot. He also donated a large sum to the local school, which the pupils decided to devote to the rebuilding of the destroyed school in
Manicamp
Manicamp () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
The villages is located in the northwestern part of the commune, on the left bank of the river Ailette, which flows west through the northern ...
, Northern France.
David died, aged 75, on 8 October 1923, in his home in the rue Président Wilson 90. He was a recipient of the French Médaille militaire.
Work
David's work differs from that of the numerous traveling photographers of the late 19th century. Photography was still a relatively new discipline and in some regions of Europe few photo studios existed. Travelling photographers filled the gap, advertising their services wherever they went. Generally, portrait photography was all they had on offer. This was not the case with Jules David who carefully prepared his travels and almost exclusively worked with clients who wanted more than a simple portrait. His preferred clients were educational institutions of the bourgeoisie, among them military schools and boarding schools, where French was often the language of instruction.
As a rule, he would take a series of photographs of the building and its interior, he would then prepare a number of carefully composed group portraits of teachers and students, often complemented with 'action' photographs of students taking classes or involved in leisure activities. He then finished the production in his studio in Levallois.Evers (2020), p. 124. The finished product, often a luxury album bound in linen or red leather with imprints in gold, was sent free of charge to the head of the institution after which directors, teachers, students or employees would choose the images they wanted a copy of.
The demand for this type of photographs diminished towards the end of the century. There was more competition from local photographers who were able to provide schools with simpler – and thus cheaper – class photographs. The era of technical challenges and carefully prepared compositions was over. David ended his international career shortly after 1910, after which he exclusively worked in France. With his associate Edmond Vallois he ran a photo studio at the rue de Rennes in Paris. Many of his negatives on glass were sold to the then flourishing picture
postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...
industry, which after his retirement remained an important source of income for his successor Vallois.
Photographs
France
Jules David worked in France as a photographer specialized in school photography from 1867 until around 1915. The majority of his clients were schools and Catholic institutions. Judging by the number of photographs of Paris sixth-form colleges (''
lycées
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
''), quite a few of them made use of his services. However, his reputation in France was not limited to 'school photography', as can be deducted from the prestigious commission to portray the French president Jules Grévy and his military staff in the garden of the
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace (french: Palais de l'Élysée; ) is the official residence of the President of the French Republic. Completed in 1722, it was built for nobleman and army officer Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, who had been appointed Gover ...
. Other well-known people were photographed by David: a photograph of
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...
with his wife and children shows them relaxing in their garden in Levallois-Perret. His work in France continued after 1875, even when increasingly spending time abroad.
File:Gustave Eiffel avec sa famille dans le jardin à Levallois-Perret (J David).jpg, Gustave Eiffel and family in Levallois-Perret (ca. 1875)
File:J Grévy, président de la République, Palais de l'Elysée (J David, 1886) - 1.jpg, President Jules Grévy and military staff at the Élysée Palace (1886)
File:Orléans lycée Pothier 1887.jpg, Class photograph, Lycée Pothier, Orléans (1887)
File:Ecole Monge album Jules David 1890 vue 3 .jpg, Central hall, École Monge, Paris (1890)
Belgium and Netherlands
The first country outside France where David received commissions was Belgium. In 1874, while still associated with Claude Bretagne, he worked in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
and Verviers. Perhaps not entirely accidental, one of his last recorded trips abroad in 1911 was also to Verviers. An important commission, possibly given to him by the
bishop of Namur
The Diocese of Namur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province in the metropolit ...
, mgr. Théodore-Joseph Gravez, led in 1878 to the publication of the leather-bound album ''L'Episcopat Belge 1878'', which included portraits of all Belgian bishops, their cathedrals and their episcopal palaces. He must have returned to the country at least fourteen times, each time taking commissions from more than one client.
In the Netherlands, professional school photography was introduced by Jules David in the school year 1879–1880. Between 1879 and 1908 he visited the country at least twenty times. As in France and Belgium, his main clients were Catholic institutions, notably
Den Helder
Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base.
From here the Royal TESO fe ...
, which he visited eight times between 1883 and 1905. Other favoured clients were
Rolduc
Rolduc is the name of a medieval abbey located on the edge of the town of Kerkrade in the far south-east of the Netherlands. It is today a Roman Catholic seminary with an affiliated conference center. The abbey is a '' rijksmonument'' (Dutch n ...
, a Catholic boarding school for boys (6 commissions) and the Episcopal College St. Joseph in Weert (5 commissions).
File:Katwijk, St Willibrord, KDC AFBK-3c3702 (J David).jpg, Jesuit school St. Willibrord, Katwijk a/d Rijn (1879/80)
File:Den Helder, KIM, 175-02-07 (J David).jpg, Students of Royal Dutch Navy Institute, Den Helder (1889)
File:Pensionaat Ursulinenklooster Uden, BM-Z117-174001 (J David).jpg, Pupils of Ursuline school posing at the village church, Uden (1896/97)
File:Collège Saint-Stanislas 1903 PF.jpg, Collège Saint-Stanislas, Namur (1903)
British Isles
In Britain and Ireland, David was employed by the military. In
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
he photographed the
2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)
The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse.
Renamed several t ...
in 1899 (an album with 34 photographs). He also worked at the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst
The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
. In
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
, Ireland, he photographed the 9th Field Battery of the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
in the courtyard of the Mulgrave Street barracks in 1898.
Northern Europe
In Scandinavia, he counted many schools among his clients, as well as military institutions and private businesses. He visited Denmark at least once but only photographs of schools in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
are recorded (1889/90). In Norway the emphasis lay on school photography, although he also had firemen posing in front of his camera, as well as workers at an arms manufacturer (1890, 1892, 1893/94, 1895, 1898, 1899, 1903 and 1908). In Sweden his clients consisted of shipbuilders, a paper factory and a railway company, as well as schools and military institutions, including an equestrian portrait of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland (1892, 1894, 1900, 1901 and at least once between 1905 and 1910). In Finland, David took photographs of the various infantry battalions of the Army of the Grand Duchy of Finland (1880s and 1890s). The Finnish revolutionary leader Johan Kock was photographed by David while in Paris.
File:Kjøbenhavn, Borgerdydsskolen, Østerbro (J. David, 1890).jpg, Borgerdydsskolen, Copenhagen-Østerbro (1890)
File:Oslo, Berles skole (J David , 1898).jpg, Berles skole, Oslo (1898)
File:Sundsvall, personal vid Statens Järnvägar (J David, 1892).jpg, Railway employees in Sundsvall, Sweden (1892)
File:Suomen rakuunarykmentin upseereja ryhmäkuvassa (J David).jpg, Officers of the Finnish Dragoon Regiment (before 1897)
Southern Europe
In 1878 David received a prestigious commission from the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
. It resulted in ''Le Vatican 1878'', another luxury album with twenty double-mounted photographs of the new pope Leo XIII, his closest associates, the
and various locations in the Vatican. A copy of this album with a dedication was presented to emperor
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Gra ...
. There is only one other photograph, taken in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
in 1895/96, to testify of David's presence in Italy.
In Spain, on the contrary, numerous visits are recorded between 1878 and 1909, including some return visits to clients, as was the case with the railway company Ferrocarriles Andaluces in Malaga in 1895, 1903, 1907 and 1908. Other clients included Catholic (and Protestant) schools, technical schools, military and naval schools, factories and an observatory. Between 1881 and 1905 visited seven times Galicia at least, where was cataloged over 90 photographies. In 1890 he worked in Gran Canaria.
David visited Portugal at least twice. In 1887/88 he took photographs at the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coi ...
. A series of photographs of the Jesuit boarding school Colégio Jesus Maria José in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
is undated but must have been taken prior to October 1910, when the school was closed down as a result of the Portuguese Revolution. Only one visit to Greece is recorded.
File:Jules David, Le Vatican (1878).jpg, Photo album ''Le Vatican'', Vatican City (1878)>>
File:Torino, Regio Educatorio della Provvidenza (J David, 1895-96).jpg, School photograph, Turin (1895/96)
File:Malaga, Ferrería de Heredia (J David, 1887).jpg, Steelworkers of Ferrería de Heredia, Malaga (1887)
File:Escuela I.Montes Biblioteca.jpg, Library of Escuela de Ingenieros de Montes, El Escorial (1892)
Elsewhere
David's busy schedule took him to every corner of Europe, and beyond. In Central and Eastern Europe he visited institutions and private enterprises in Poland, Moravia, Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Russia. His furthest journey, as far as we know, took him to Brazil in 1906 where he spent several weeks taking photographs at the Colégio Militar in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, the Colégio Notre-Dame de Sion in
Petrópolis
Petrópolis (; ), also known as The Imperial City, is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the ci ...
, and the
São Paulo Railway
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...
around
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
.Photographs of Brazil by Jules David on Wikimedia Commons.
File:Brno-Brunn, K.K. Corps Artillerie Regt. Kronprinz Erzherzog Rudolph, no-10-cropoed (J. David, 1888).jpg, Austro-Hungarian artillery regiment in Brno, Moravia (1888)
File:Radom (Pologne), usine de céramique Marywil (Jules David) - 4.jpg, Ceramics factory "Marywil", Radom, Poland (1896-1902)
File:Moscou, Institut Impérial Marie (J David, 1911-12) - 1.jpg, Booklet Institut Impérial Marie, Moscow (1912)
File:Saõ Paulo Railway do Brazil (photos by J David, 1906).jpg, Booklet Saõ Paulo Railway (1906)
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