Today, photography is ubiquitous. But could you imagine Instagram, Facebook or your daily news without photos? Or a journey without the possibility to create a visual recollection of places and people that crossed path with you. Fortunately, a French inventor called J. N. Niépce managed to create a photography from his window in La Gras back in the 1820s and with this invention he sparked the beginning of photography as we know and cherish it today.
A few years later, in 1839, a cunning and innovative photographer used the emerging technology to do something outstanding. He was the first person (ever!) to photograph the Acropolis in Athens, making it possible for everyone to travel with him to this beautiful historical site.
Pierre-Gustave-Gaspard Joly de Lotbinière was the first travel photographer known to this world. Pierre-Gustave was a traveler, quite a rarity in his time because traveling was a risky undertaking and besides very expensive. After he made his famous shot of the Acropolis, he didn’t stop in Greece but ventured on to Egypt down along the Nile, followed by the Middle East, after his stop in Syria he went to Turkey and finally returned with 92 visual recollections aka daguerrotypes of his journey.
Pierre-Gustave was the pioneer of travel photography and from there the world started to become more familiar; more people got the chance to see places they would have never met. Travel photography is truly a great gift to everyone curious about the world.
Another fun fact about Pierre-Gustave. He wasn’t just an admirer of internationalism but also actively lived it and his son Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière said farewell to the business in the old world and became known for being the prime minister of Quebec, appointed governor of British Colombia as well as being a liberal leader of his time.
Author: Frederic Maximilian
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