Carte de visite Paul Frecker Legend has it that photography is indebted to Napoléon III for the success of the carte-de-visite. Although the carte camera was patented by Disdéri in 1854, the craze supposedly didn't take off until the Emperor, while leading his army to war in Italy, stopped off to have his portrait taken in the new format at Disdéri's studio on the Boulevard des Italiens.
Unfortunately, the story is apocryphal. Research has shown not only that the departing French army did not pass down the Boulevard des Italiens, but also that it left Paris late in the evening when there was not enough natural light for any photographer to operate.
