Gustave Le Gray (1820-1884) is one of the heroes of
early French photography. A pioneer of innovative
processes, he also made history as an instructor for
a whole generation of French photographers and the
initiator and outstanding architectural photog rapher
of the mission héliographique documenting France's
historical monuments. Le Gray, who originally studied
painting, is also considered to be the founder of
artistic photography. He was one of the first to
follow the painters to Fontainebleau to do his own
photographic studies of nature. In the mid-1850s, he
started to produce sea and cloud studies in Normandy
and on the western coast of the Mediterranean; these
made him an overnight sensation among amateurs
and collectors and earned him the admiration of the
Impressionists. Fleeing from creditors, in 1860 he
set off with Alexandre Dumas for Italy. He spent the
last 20 years of his life in Cairo, taking photos and
working as a drawing tutor. Today, Le Gray's prints
are among the most expensive in the world.
