Nadar

(1820-1910). Pseudonym of the French photographer Gaspar-Felix Tournachon. Born in Paris to a family of printers, he studied medicine and worked for various newspapers, both as a writer and a caricaturist, for which he adopted the name Nadar, and which he continued to use as a photographer. Closely involved with the progressive circles of the socialist and positivist movements, he was a pioneer of medical photography, aerostatic photography (taken from a hot-air balloon) and reportage, although he became famous for his extraordinarily refined portraits. Among the many activities that took place in the famous studio at 35 Boulevard des Capucines was Nadar’s experiments in fashion photography.