The Nadars, a photographic legend

The Nadars

fr

Self-portrait in a balloon basket

Félix Nadar, around 1863

Charcoal drawing on brown paper with white-gouache highlights, 31.4 × 23.5 cm.
BnF, Prints and Photographs Department, STORAGE NA-88-ÉCU BOX
© Bibliothèque nationale de France
At the time of the first aerostatic trial flights, Félix Nadar went back to the technique he had used for the caricatures in Nadar's Pantheon &ndash charcoal drawings with chalk highlighting to portray himself in his legendary balloon, Le Géant.