Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (5 April 1820 – 20 March 1910), known by the pseudonym Nadar, was a French photographer,
caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfred Grévin (1827–1892)
* Al ...
, journalist, novelist,
balloonist, and proponent of
heavier-than-air flight. In 1858, he became the first person to take
aerial photograph
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing air ...
s.
Photographic portraits by Nadar are held by many of the great national collections of photographs. His son, Paul Nadar (1856–1939), continued the studio after his death.
Life
Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (also known as Nadar) was born in early April 1820 in Paris,
though some sources state he was born in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
. His father,
Victor Tournachon, was a printer and bookseller. Nadar began to study medicine but quit for economic reasons after his father's death.
Nadar started working as a caricaturist and novelist for various newspapers. He fell in with the Parisian bohemian group of
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855) was the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, a major figure of French romanticism, best known for his novellas and poems, especially the collection '' Les ...
,
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fr ...
, and
Théodore de Banville. His friends picked a nickname for him, perhaps by a playful habit of adding "dar" to the end of words, Tournadar, which later became Nadar.
His work was published in ''
Le Charivari'' for the first time in 1848. In 1849, he founded ''La Revue Comique à l'Usage des Gens Sérieux''. He also edited ''Le Petit Journal pour Rire''.
From work as a caricaturist, he moved on to photography. He took his first photographs in 1853, and in 1854 opened a photographic studio at 113 rue St. Lazare.
He moved to 35 Boulevard des Capucines in 1860. Nadar photographed a wide range of personalities: politicians (
Guizot,
Proudhon), stage actors (
Sarah Bernhardt,
Paulus), writers (
Hugo,
Baudelaire,
Sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...
,
Nerval,
Gautier,
Dumas), painters (
Corot,
Delacroix,
Millet), and musicians (
Liszt,
Rossini,
Offenbach,
Verdi,
Berlioz).
Portrait photography was going through a period of native industrialization, and Nadar refused to use the traditional sumptuous decors; he preferred natural daylight and despised what he considered to be unnecessary accessories. In 1886, with his son Paul, he did what may be the first photo-report: an interview with the great scientist
Michel Eugène Chevreul, who at the time was 100 years old.
It was published in ''Le Journal Illustré''.
File:Brooklyn Museum - Nadar Élevant la Photographie à la Hauteur de l'Art - Honoré Daumier.jpg, ''Nadar élevant la Photographie à la hauteur de l'Art'' ("Nadar elevating Photography to Art"). Lithograph by Honoré Daumier
Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808February 10, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second N ...
, appearing in ''Le Boulevard'', 25 May 1863
File:Henry de Montaut, Petit, Catastrophe du ballons Le Géant. - La nacelle rasant le sol à Nieubourg (Hanovre). - D`après les renseignements fournis par M. Nadar. Gravure 1863.jpg, 1863: Disaster with ''Le Géant'' at Neustadt am Rübenberge at Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
. Illustration in a newspaper
File:Felix Nadar in a balloon, late 1860s photographer Felix Nadar (4559203377).jpg, Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) c. 1863, studio portrait, carte-de-visite
File:Nadar, Félix - Self-portrait.jpg, Studio portrait of Nadar in a balloon basket, c. 1863
In 1858, he became the first person to take
aerial photograph
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing air ...
s. This was done using the
wet plate collodion process, and since the plates had to be prepared and developed (a process that required a chemically neutral setting) while the basket was aloft, Nadar experienced imaging problems as gas escaped from his balloons. After Nadar invented a gas-proof cotton cover and draped it over his balloon baskets, he was able to capture stable images.
He also pioneered the use of artificial lighting in photography, working in the catacombs of Paris. He was thus the first person to photograph from the air with his balloons, as well as the first to photograph underground, in the
Catacombs of Paris.
In 1867, he published the first magazine to focus on air travel: ''L'Aéronaute''.
In 1863, Nadar commissioned the prominent balloonist
Eugène Godard
Eugène Godard Ainé was a notable French aeronaut, born in Clichy on August 26, 1827, died in Brussels on September 9, 1890.
Biography
In 1841, 14-year-old Eugène Godard enrolled at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts in Paris. He ...
to construct an enormous balloon, high and with a capacity of , and named ''Le Géant'' (The Giant).
On his visit to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
with ''Le Géant'', on 26 September 1864, Nadar erected mobile barriers to keep the crowd at a safe distance.
Crowd control barriers are still known in Belgium as ''Nadar barriers''.
''Le Géant'' was badly damaged at the end of its second flight, but Nadar rebuilt the gondola and the envelope, and continued his flights. In 1867, he was able to take as many as a dozen passengers aloft at once, serving cold chicken and wine.
For publicity, he recreated balloon flights in his studio with his wife, Ernestine, using a rigged-up balloon gondola. He stayed a passionate aeronaut until he and Ernestine were injured in an accident in ''Le Géant''.
''Le Géant'' (The Giant) inspired
Jules Verne's ''
Five Weeks in a Balloon
''Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa'' (french: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1863. It is the first novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of hi ...
''. Nadar was the inspiration for the character of
Michael Ardan in Verne's ''
From the Earth to the Moon''.
In 1862, Verne and Nadar established a ''Société pour la recherche de la navigation aérienne'', which later became ''La Société d'encouragement de la locomotion aérienne au moyen du plus lourd que l'air'' (The Society for the Encouragement of Aerial Locomotion by Means of Heavier than Air Machines).
Nadar served as president and Verne as secretary.
During the
Siege of Paris in 1870–71, Nadar was instrumental in organising balloon flights carrying mail to reconnect the besieged Parisians with the rest of the world, thus establishing the world's first
airmail service.
In April 1874, he lent his photo studio to a group of painters to present the first exhibition of the
Impressionists.
He photographed
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
on his death-bed in 1885. He is credited with having published (in 1886) the first ''photo-interview'' (of famous chemist
Michel Eugène Chevreul, then a centenarian).
His photographs of women are notable for their natural poses and individual character.
Nadar was recognized for breaking the conventions of photographic
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...
, choosing to capture the subjects as active participants.
As of 1 April 1895, Nadar turned over the Paris Nadar Studio to his son Paul. He moved to
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
, where he established another photography studio in 1897. On 3 January 1909 he returned to Paris.
Nadar died on 20 March 1910, aged 89. He was buried in
Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The studio continued under the direction of his son and long-term collaborator, Paul Nadar (1856–1939).
Works
Towards the end of his life, Nadar published ''Quand j'étais photographe'', which was translated into English and published by MIT Press in 2015. The book is full of both anecdotes and samples of his photography, including many portraits of recognizable names.
[Adam Begley]
"The absurd life of Félix Nadar, French portraitist and human flight advocate"
''The Guardian'', 23 December 2015.
The painter
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres sent some of his clients to Nadar to have their photographs taken as studies for his paintings.
Gallery
File:JapaneseMissionAndNadarSon.JPG, Nadar's son (center) with Yatsu Kanshiro (left) and an unnamed samurai (right), photographed by Nadar. They were members of the Second Japanese Embassy to Europe in 1863
File:Dessin de Nadar 1850.jpg, Caricature of Balzac, 1850
File:Charles Baudelaire.jpg, Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fr ...
File:Sarah Bernhardt, par Nadar, 1864, sepia.jpg, Sarah Bernhardt
File:Georges Ernest Boulanger by Atelier Nadar.jpg, Georges Boulanger
File:BRÉSIL, Marguerite Neurdein. Photo Nadar.jpg, Marguerite Brésil
File:LeBris1868.jpg, Le Bris and his flying machine, Albatros II (could be misattributed, some sources say the photographer was ''Pépin fils'')
File:Maréchal Canrobert by Nadar.jpg, François Certain de Canrobert
File:Georges Clemenceau Nadar.jpg, Georges Clemenceau
File:Atelier Nadar - Pierre Kropotkine.jpg, Peter Kropotkin
File:Prince Czartoryski by Nadar.jpg, Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
File:Claude Debussy ca 1908, foto av Félix Nadar.jpg, Claude Debussy
File:Félix Nadar 1820-1910 portraits Eugène Delacroix.jpg, Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...
File:Paul Gustave Dore by Felix Nadar 1855-1859.jpg, Gustave Doré (1859)
File:Alexandre Dumas Nadar.jpg, Alexandre Dumas, père
File:N Gabrielli par Nadar.jpg, Nicolò Gabrielli di Quercita
File:Galliffet, Gaston de.jpg, Marquis de Galliffet, the ''fusilleur de la Commune''
File:Charles Gounod (1890) by Nadar.jpg, Charles Gounod in 1890
File:Elisabeth de Gramont - Nadar - 1889.jpg, Élisabeth de Gramont
Antoinette Corisande Élisabeth, Duchess of Clermont-Tonnerre (née de Gramont; 23 April 1875 – 6 December 1954) was a French writer of the early 20th century, best known for her long-term lesbian relationship with Natalie Clifford Barney, ...
, 1889
File:Franz Liszt by Nadar, March 1886.png, Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
File:Ilja Iljitsch Metschnikow Nadar.jpg, Ilya Mechnikov
File:Jean-François Millet by Nadar, Metropolitan Museum copy.jpg, Jean-François Millet
File:Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, close up, with slight smile by Nadar.jpg, Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar
Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدینشاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...
, king of Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
1848–1896
File:George Sand by Nadar, 1864.jpg, George Sand (1864)
File:Édouard de Reszke by Nadar (BPL Hale Coll).jpg, Édouard de Reszke
Édouard de Reszke (22 December 185325 May 1917) was a Polish bass from Warsaw. A member of the musical Reszke family, he was a successful opera singer, as were his brother Jean and his sister Josephine. He made his debut in ''Aida'' in Paris on ...
File:Séverine, debout, un poing sur la hanche - Nadar.jpg, Séverine (c. 1895)
File:Émile Zola Nadar.jpg, Émile Zola (1895)
File:Pedro II do Brasil por Nadar 1891.png, Pedro II of Brazil
Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh child of Emp ...
See also
*
Prix Nadar, French
photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
prize given in Nadar's name
*
Mononymous person
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...
, a person known with only one word
*
Michel Ardan
''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post- American Civil ...
, a character from the 1865 novel ''
From the Earth to the Moon'' who was inspired by Nadar
References
External links
*
*
1867 Caricature of Nadar by André GillArticle about Nadarby
Bruce Sterling
Article about Nadarby Roger Cicala
numerous photographs by Nadar
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nadar
Pioneers of photography
1820 births
1910 deaths
Aerial photographers
French balloonists
French caricaturists
Portrait photographers
Artists from Paris
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Lycée Condorcet alumni
19th-century French photographers
20th-century French photographers