Fr : version française / En: english version
mheu, Historical Museum of the Urban Environment
Le petit chiffonnier appuyé contre une borne (The young ragpicker leaning on a bollard)
Charles Nègre
1851
14cm x 10cm
Sepia negative
Paris, Musée d'Orsay
© RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Béatrice Hatala
View this work in the exhibition Les Chiffonniers
The work
Le petit chiffonnier (The young ragpicker), a photo taken in front of the photographer's studio on the Île de la Cité in Paris in 1851, is particularly representative of Charles Nègre's talent for the genre scene: a rigorous formal triangular composition and a strong depth of shot make this a very classical photo. However, the profile view, which emphasizes the basket, and the casual posture of the subject, as well as his bold sly gaze at the photographer, gives the photo a powerful vitality.
The artist
A painter turned photographer, born in Grasse in 1820, Charles Nègre studied painting under Paul Delaroche and then Ingres. It is probable that he took an interest in the incipient field of photography as an aid to his work as a painter. His photographic work is oriented towards capturing movement but he is best known for his photographs of architecture and his "genre scenes". He also photographed widely in the French Riviera, the region of his birth and where he died in 1880.