Henri Le Secq. Photographe de 1850-1860 Catalogue raisonné de la Collection de la Bibliothèque des Arts Décoratifs Paris

Paris, France: Musee Des Arts Decoratifs / Flammarion, 1986. First Edition . Cloth. Near Fine/Vg. 4to. 191 pgs. Bibliography. Book / catalogue accompanying an exposition at the "Musée des Arts Décoratifs" in Paris Sept. - November,1986. French language text. 60 plates and multiple small format examples of the photos exhibited. A very gently used copy with the previous owners name to front free endpaper. Little edgewear to dust jacket with one small chip along the bottom edge. (see photo) A heavier volume that may require added shipping costs. From the Oxford companion to the Photograph: "Le Secq, Henri (1818-82), French architectural photographer. The son of a politician, he studied art in the studio of Paul Delaroche in the early 1840s. Encouraged by fellow pupil Gustave Le Gray, he turned to photography, initially as an aid to painting. But his enthusiasm for his native Paris and its buildings led him to build a reputation as an architectural photographer. In 1851 he became a founding member of the Société Héliographique. That year, he was also invited to join the official Mission Héliographique to create a visual record of potentially threatened historic buildings. Le Secq's brief included, in addition to a number of ecclesiastical sites in the Paris area, the cathedrals of Chartres, Strasbourg, and Rheims. His practice was to produce salted-paper prints from waxed-paper negatives, and his oeuvre encompassed still-life and landscape studies as well as architectural work. At the end of the 1850s, when paper negatives were being superseded by glass, he largely withdrew from photography, concentrating on his painting and antiquarian interests.