b. 20 January 1807; d.1887
Bayard, a Civil Servant, was one of the earliest of photographers. His invention of photography actually preceded that of Daguerre, for on 24 June 1839 he displayed some thirty of his photographs, and thus at least goes into the record books as being the first person to hold a photographic exhibition. However Francois Arago (a friend of Daguerre and who was seeking to promote his invention) persuaded him to postpone publishing details of his work. When Bayard eventually gave details of the process to the French Academy of Sciences on 24 February 1840, he had lost the opportunity to be regarded as the inventor of photography. As some recompense he was given some money to buy better equipment, but in no way did this atone for the injustice caused him.
Bayard's
somewhat surreal self-portrait (October 1840), depicting him as a drowned man,
is by way of protest against this injustice of having been pipped at the post
because he had kept quiet about his invention. It is in fact the first known
example of the use of photography for propaganda purposes, and also of a faked
picture! The comment reads:
"The corpse which you see here is that of M. Bayard, inventor of the process that has just been shown to you. As far as I know this indefatigable experimenter has been occupied for about three years with his discovery.
The Government which has been only too generous to Monsieur Daguerre, has said it can do nothing for Monsieur Bayard, and the poor wretch has drowned himself. Oh the vagaries of human life....!"
... He has been at the morgue for several days, and no-one has recognized or claimed him."
He continues:
"Ladies and gentlemen, you'd better pass along for fear of offending your sense of smell, for as you can observe, the face and hands of the gentleman are beginning to decay."
(Obviously sun-tan, but it contributed to this bizarre photograph!
Fortunately he did not end his own life, and continued to take photographs. As a photographer his work actually shows more sensitivity and accomplishment than either Fox Talbot or Daguerre. He was the first to suggest that separate negatives of clouds be used to print in the skies, and thus paved the way for a new technique to become known as Combination Printing.
Most of Bayard's works are at the Societe Francaise de Photographie, of which he was a founder member.
© Robert Leggat, 2002.