A beautifully colored salt print by the female photographer Louise Laffon (née Louise Charialle, 1828 - died after 1885). Laffon was a painter and started working as a photographer in 1859 until 1876. She was the third woman who joined the Société française de photographie (SFP) in 1864, after Louise Leghait en 1856 et Madame Breton en 1857. Louise Laffon is one of the few female photographers to have owned a studio in her own name where she also offered transparent portraits on silk. A true pioneer!

Louise Laffon worked on several occasions with archaeologists, for whom photography provided invaluable documentary assistance. She collaborated with the archaeologist Félix Ravaisson on the reproduction of a collection of ancient marbles, and then photographed marbles from the Campana collection to illustrate a book devoted to the works of the short-lived Musée Napoléon III, which foreshadowed the Louvre Museum. The plates are lithographs based on "L. Laffon's photographs, Poitevin process." Five hundred of her albumen prints were purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1864.

In 1866, under the editorship of Alexis Godillot, a Photographic Album of French Army Uniforms was published, featuring sixty-six hand-colored salt prints by Louise Laffon, "248 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Paris."

This portrait is titled "Régiments Chasseurs d'Afrique", Plate 44. A regiment that saw action during the Crimean War, in Italy and the Franco - Prussian war in 1870.
The pose of these two soldiers is beautifully balanced and has a relaxed feel. The quality is reminiscent of Roger Fenton's famous Crimean portraits. The coloring is of very good quality.

The salt print is in good condition with some original retouches. Alexis Godillot's dry stamp is visible between the two men. Titled on the original mount.

photo ca.
mount ca.

Literature:
Alexis Godillot: "Album photographique des uniformes de l'armée française", Paris 1866 [photographs by Louise Laffon]

👉 This salt print is part of the Bazar Nadar "History Class Collection".
Based on these unique images, we will tell you about the origins of the medium during workshops.