Nineteenth century photographs

An obscure French photographer named Charles Famin (1809-?) took this photograph of a barnyard, probably near Fountainbleu, as he was associated with the Barbizon School of painters in the 1860s. Indeed, the Cleveland Institute of Art suggests that much of his work was intended as artists' aids. It was taken about 1865 and is an albumen print—probably unique, and carried Famin's blind stamp.

         
         No. 0 January 2006

This is a carefully composed image, yet not at all artificial. The wagons are kept separated and one is upright and the other tilted forward; there is a side view of one and a three-quarter front view of the other, as well as a sense of the layout of a French barnyard. If this photograph was taken as an artists' aid, as most of his pastoral and woodland scenes are supposed to have been, it would make sense to show different views of the wagons

The fact that we have never seen that kind of wagon in this country makes this especially interesting to Americans, but probably of no great concern to his contemporaries. The formal elements here are less important than a depiction of typically rural aspects.

Next image: Francis Frith