Pont de l'ardoise pris en revenant de la cascade des Parisiens, Luchon 1853

This landscape photograph was taken by Joseph Vigier in Luchon, France, in 1858, using the salted paper print method. The image presents a rustic bridge made of slate, spanning a stream, with the surrounding terrain a mix of rocky paths and dense vegetation. The salted paper process gives the image a soft, almost dreamlike quality, particularly noticeable in the blurred movement of the water. To make a salted paper print, the photographer coated paper with a salt solution, followed by silver nitrate, and then exposed it to light through a negative. The choice of this relatively simple and accessible photographic technique is interesting. While photography was becoming more widespread, it still required a degree of technical knowledge and careful preparation. Vigier’s engagement with this process, not as a purely mechanical reproduction but as a hands-on, alchemical process, invites us to consider the labour involved in image-making at the time. It challenges our contemporary notions of photography as instant and effortless.