Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri 1855 - 1860

This photograph of Pierre-Luc-Charles Cicéri was made by Nadar in France, using the wet collodion process. This involved coating a glass plate with light-sensitive chemicals, exposing it in the camera, and developing it immediately. The resulting image has a distinctive tonal range, and a slightly soft focus, quite different from the crisp precision we associate with digital photography today. Wet collodion was a relatively new technology at the time, but already photography had shifted the paradigm of portraiture. The democratization of images put pressure on painting, and led to a new emphasis on its material qualities. Nadar's work, while certainly made with scientific means, still presents the sitter as a careful study. By engaging the new industrial processes, artists like Nadar could explore a different kind of value: the individual likeness made accessible to all. Photography was a tool that both leveled and elevated its subject. Understanding photography’s early techniques and how these changed the art world allows us to fully appreciate the art and social context of the piece, blurring the lines between industrial progress and artistic expression.