Self-Portrait
Louis-Adolphe Humbert de Molard French
Not on view
Humbert de Molard, freed from financial concerns by the wealth of his land holdings in Normandy and perhaps missing the activity of Paris as he settled in the provincial town of Lagny, took up photography in 1843, just four years after its invention. A clever chemist and a skilled craftsman, he quickly mastered the new medium. In this, his only self-portrait daguerreotype, he exudes confidence—an expression that might appear cocky if his perfect technique, mastery of lighting effects, and surprising ability to pose himself with studied informality were not proved by the picture itself.
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