The Nadars, a photographic legend

The Nadars

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Self-portrait with a hat and a cigarette

Adrien Tournachon, 1853-1855

Salt-paper print with a protective coating, from a collodion glass negative, 23.6 × 17.6 cm.
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005 (2005.100.44)
Photo © The The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image of the MMA
These two self-portraits by Adrien Tournachon in a straw hat - seen together here exceptionally - date back to his first steps in photography. They are marvels of laid-back skill. Shot outside and in close-up, they turn their back on the stereotypicallly stiff studio portraiture of their time. Having studied with Gustave Le Gray, Adrien Tournachon is clearly declaring that photography's future belongs within the purview of art and artists.