Henri-Victor Regnault
1853
The Ladder

Blanquart-Evrard salt print from waxed paper negative
The Royal Society
From being a process pioneer, Blanquart-Evrard established himself as a large-scale (for the period) publisher and promoter of photography. This light-and-dark still life by Regnault was one of two rustic genre studies reproduced in Études Photographiques (Blanquart-Evrard, Lille, 1853). It shows an angled corner of the Government factory at Sèvres, 'between the stable and the porter's lodge'
 
'The ladder' is discussed in Laurie Dahlberg, Victor Regnault and the advance of photography: the art of avoiding errors, (Princeton University Press), pp. 161-166. For additional information on Blanquart-Evrard's process and printing establishment see:
 
Helmut Gernsheim (1982) The origins of photography (Thames & Hudson, London), pp. 237-244.
 
For an analysis of this photograph: Juliet Hacking (ed.), 2012, Photography: The Whole Story, (Prestel), pp. 78-79
 
LL/59211