John Beasley Greene (1832 – November 1856) was a French-born American

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

and one of the earliest archaeological documentary photographers. He died at the age of 24. Because of his early demise, his pioneering work was quickly forgotten. The first important study of Greene was published in 1981.

Biography

The son of an American banker, Greene was born in Le Havre and later lived in at 10 rue de la Grange Bateliere in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

. His work combined two passions: the new technology of photography and the discovery of Ancient Egypt. He employed a waxed paper negative process learned from

Gustave Le Gray Jean-Baptiste Gustave Le Gray (; 30 August 1820 – 30 July 1884)Le Corre, Florence "Translated from the catalogue ''Une visite au camp de Châlons sous le Second Empire: photographies de Messieurs Le Gray, Prévot...'', Paris: musée de l'Armée, ...

.James Hyman Gallery
Biography of John Beasley Greene
/ref> After his father's death in 1850, Greene was able to finance his first trip to Egypt in 1854. He was a founding member of the

Société française de photographie The Société française de photographie (SFP) is an association, founded on 15 November 1854, devoted to the history of photography. It has a large collection of photographs and old cameras. Among the founding members were Olympe Aguado, Hippoly ...

, founded on 15 November 1854. That same year, he published photographs from his expedition under the title, ''Le Nil : monuments, paysages, explorations photographiques.'' In Algeria, on his second trip in late 1855 and early 1856, he photographed excavation campaigns of the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania in Algeria, led by

Louis-Adrien Berbrugger Louis-Adrien Berbrugger (May 11, 1801July 2, 1869) was a French archeologist and philologist. Berbrugger was born in Paris. He was an Arabist, with a Muslim wife, who set up the National Library in Algiers. Honors and accomplishments He died i ...

. He died in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

, possibly of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

, at the age of 24.

Gallery

File:Green, John B. - Abu Simbel; Toui, die Mutter von Ramses II., Statue links des zweiten, südlichen Kolosses am Tempel von Ramses II. (Zeno Fotografie).jpg, Ramses II (ca 1853) File:-Excavations near the Sphinx- MET DP138841.jpg, Excavations near the Sphinx (1853) File:John Beasly Greene (American, born France - (Médinet-Habou, Palais de Ramsès Méïamoun, Entrée de La Seconde Cour) - Google Art Project.jpg, Médinet-Habou, Palais de Ramsès Méïamoun, Entrée de La Seconde Cour (1854) File:ALBUM OF EGYPT AND ALGERIA, 1.PNG, Thèbes, Village de Ghezireh (1853-1853) File:ALBUM OF EGYPT AND ALGERIA, 6.PNG, Constantine, Algeria (ca. 1855) File:ALBUM OF EGYPT AND ALGERIA, 8.PNG, Cascade d'El-Ourit, Tlemcen, Algeria (1856) File:John Beasly Greene (American, born France - (Tomb of the Christian, Algeria) - Google Art Project.jpg, Royal Mausuleum of Mauretania 1856

Exhibitions

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art hosted an exhibition titled "Signs and Wonders: The Photographs of John Beasley Greene" (31 August 2019 – 5 January 2020).

Publications

*
Le Nil : monuments, paysages, explorations photographiques
', Lille, Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, 1854. * ''Fouilles Executées à Thèbes dans l'année 1855'' * ''Photographes en Algérie au XIXe siècle''. Paris

Collections

* Bibliothèque de l'institut * Cabinet des estampes de la BNF * Smithsonian American Art Museum *

Musée de l'Élysée Musée de l'Élysée is a museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, entirely devoted to photography. It is a government-supported institution founded in 1985 by Charles-Henri Favrod. It was housed in an 18th-century mansion until October 2020.

, Lausanne *

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, John Beasley 19th-century American photographers 19th-century French photographers 1832 births 1856 deaths Photography in Egypt Pioneers of photography Egyptology French Egyptologists