Prints and Authors in the Time of Manet

Nadar
Before he began his career as a photographer, Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (known as Nadar) wrote essays and satirical commentaries for the many small newspapers and journals of the day. He played an active role in literary and political circles in Paris during his lifetime. In 1854 he began to study photography with Camille d’Arnaud, and while still active in publishing, opened a photography studio. His studio quickly became a center of the Paris intelligentsia and fashionable society. His portraits were recognized then, as they are now, as having extraordinary quality.