Silvy, Camille. Photographer of Modern Life: Camille Silvy by Mark Haworth-Booth.

J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010. First edition. New book. Excellent selection of 113 photos in color, taken mostly in England and France, most never before published, with authoritative text. 160 pages. Hardcover in cloth with dust jacket. (Photo of front cover is a stock photo.) From the publisher:

The French photographer Camille Silvy (1834–1910) was one of the most original artists of his time. More than any other nineteenth-century photographer, Silvy exemplifies Charles Baudelaire's idea of the artist as an interpreter of modern life. This book explores Silvy's innovative efforts to master industrial-scale portrait production alongside fine-art photography in his popular London studio. Presenting sitters in modern dress was a new phenomenon and Silvy was a pioneer in the creation of the carte-de-visite (a photographic visiting card).

This fascinating account of Silvy's life and photography was published to mark the centenary of his death. Combining research into exhibition prints, still lifes, and street scenes, as well as the intimate, beautifully lit and posed cartes-de-visite, the book demonstrates Silvy's extraordinary originality and his life as a man of both art and commerce. A previously unpublished photographic collection of his family is also included.

Mark Haworth-Booth is a renowned historian and curator of photography. Formerly senior curator of photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum, he served as visiting professor of photography at the University of the Arts, London, from 2003–10. He is the author of Camille Silvy: River Scene, France (Getty Publications, 1992).

Summary:

Photographer of Modern Life: Camille Silvy (2010), by Mark Haworth-Booth, is the definitive scholarly monograph on one of the most innovative and commercially successful photographers of the 19th century. Published by the National Portrait Gallery, the book traces the meteoric career of Camille Silvy (1834–1910), a French aristocrat who revolutionized the London photographic scene during the 1860s.

Core Themes and Content

• The Carte de Visite King: Silvy operated a high-society studio at 38 Porchester Terrace, where he photographed up to 40 sitters a day. He mastered the carte de visite (small, tradable photographic cards), turning portraiture into a mass-produced yet elegant "modern" commodity.

• A "Director" of the Lens: Haworth-Booth emphasizes Silvy’s role as a proto-fashion photographer. He didn't just take pictures; he staged them with elaborate costumes, theatrical backdrops, and an obsessive attention to high-society etiquette.

• Landscape Innovation: Beyond the studio, the book highlights Silvy’s masterpiece, River Scene, France (1858), praised as one of the first photographs to successfully use "combination printing" to capture both a detailed sky and a perfect reflection in the water.

Visual and Technical Significance

• The Daybooks: The book draws heavily from Silvy’s monumental "Daybooks"—meticulous ledgers where he kept a print of every portrait he ever took. These provide an unparalleled sociological insight into the Victorian era, documenting everyone from royalty to famous beauties.

• Technical Perfection: Silvy was an early adopter of advanced lighting and chemical processes, ensuring his prints had a tonal brilliance that set the standard for the professional studio aesthetic of the mid-19th century.