Camille Silvy: Photographer of Modern Life 1834-1910

We cite from the COVER:
"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. Silvy made elegant portraits of fashionable society at the same time as portraying ordinary people as themselves. Presenting sitters in modern dress was a new phenomenon and, with analysis of the origins of the carte-de-visite format, this book explores Silvy's pioneering efforts to master industrial-scale portrait production alongside fine-art photography in his popular London studio."
"Before moving to London, Silvy was well-represented in the first Paris Salon of Photography in spring 1859. His River Scene, France (1858) can be understood as a tableau of modern leisure - including working-class leisure - on the outskirts of town. New light is shed on this remarkable photograph as well as on Silvy's Studies on Light (1859). These studies of fog, twilight and sunshine include original views of London streets as well as stylistic innovations."
"This compelling account of Camille Silvy's life and photography is published to mark the centenary of his death and the first ever retrospective exhibition dedicated to his work. Combining research into exhibition prints, still lifes and street scenes, as well as the intimate, beautifully lit and posed cartes-de-visite, this book demonstrates Silvy's extraordinary originality and his life as a man of both art and commerce."