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Lot Essay
Photographe paysagiste dès les années 1850, Adolphe Godard réalise au calotype des vues des Pyrénées françaises. Membre de la Société française de photographie depuis 1854, il tente en 1856 de lancer sa carrière dans l’Isère, où il photographie Grenoble (Lot 440) et Uriage. Mais, c’est à Gênes, où sa présence est attestée la même année, que son nom demeure associé : il s’inscrit en effet dans le mouvement qui, porté par des voyageurs et des pionniers de la photographie, introduit le calotype après sa naissance en Angleterre et son essor en France pour gagner l’Italie au fil des années 1840 et 1850. Il y installe un atelier, d’abord Crosa del Diavolo, puis Strada San Giuseppe entre 1858 et 1871 environ. Godard réalise des vues de la ville en différents formats (moyen format, stéréoscopique et carte de visite), tirées sur papier salé, parfois avec sa signature manuscrite intégrée à l’image. Le pont de Carignano, dit « pont des suicides », qui mène à la basilique Santa Maria Assunta, en offre ici un exemple.
La redécouverte de son oeuvre, à l’occasion de l’exposition « Éloge du négatif. Les débuts de la photographie sur papier en Italie (1846-1862) », présentée en 2010 au Petit Palais à Paris puis au Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia à Florence, rend leur place à ces figures qui ont accompagné l’aube européenne de la photographie.
A landscape photographer from the 1850s onward, Adolphe Godard produced calotypes of the French Pyrenees. A member of the Société française de photographie from 1854, he attempted to establish his career in the Isère region in 1856, photographing Grenoble (Lot 440) and Uriage. It is in Genoa, however, where his presence is documented that same year, that his name remains most closely associated. There, he became part of the movement through which travelers and photographic pioneers introduced the calotype into Italy after its invention in England and its development in France during the 1840s and 1850s. He established a studio in the city, first on the Crosa del Diavolo and later on Strada San Giuseppe, where he remained active between approximately 1858 and 1871. Godard produced views of Genoa in a variety of formats, including medium-format prints, stereoscopic views, and cartes de visite, printed on salted paper and sometimes incorporating his handwritten signature directly into the image. The Carignano Bridge, known as the “Bridge of Suicides,” which leads to the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, is represented here.
The rediscovery of Godard’s work on the occasion of the exhibition In Praise of the Negative: Early Paper Photography in Italy (1846-1862), presented in 2010 at the Petit Palais in Paris and subsequently at the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia in Florence, restored recognition to those figures who accompanied the European dawn of photography.
La redécouverte de son oeuvre, à l’occasion de l’exposition « Éloge du négatif. Les débuts de la photographie sur papier en Italie (1846-1862) », présentée en 2010 au Petit Palais à Paris puis au Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia à Florence, rend leur place à ces figures qui ont accompagné l’aube européenne de la photographie.
A landscape photographer from the 1850s onward, Adolphe Godard produced calotypes of the French Pyrenees. A member of the Société française de photographie from 1854, he attempted to establish his career in the Isère region in 1856, photographing Grenoble (Lot 440) and Uriage. It is in Genoa, however, where his presence is documented that same year, that his name remains most closely associated. There, he became part of the movement through which travelers and photographic pioneers introduced the calotype into Italy after its invention in England and its development in France during the 1840s and 1850s. He established a studio in the city, first on the Crosa del Diavolo and later on Strada San Giuseppe, where he remained active between approximately 1858 and 1871. Godard produced views of Genoa in a variety of formats, including medium-format prints, stereoscopic views, and cartes de visite, printed on salted paper and sometimes incorporating his handwritten signature directly into the image. The Carignano Bridge, known as the “Bridge of Suicides,” which leads to the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, is represented here.
The rediscovery of Godard’s work on the occasion of the exhibition In Praise of the Negative: Early Paper Photography in Italy (1846-1862), presented in 2010 at the Petit Palais in Paris and subsequently at the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia in Florence, restored recognition to those figures who accompanied the European dawn of photography.