Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon

Background

Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon was born to a French Jewish family on 9 January 1818 in La Ferté-sous-jouarre, Ile-de-France, France.

Education

In 1858 Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon studied photography under noted photographer Franz Hanfstaengl in Munich, Germany.

Career

Antoine-Samuel Adam-Salomon worked briefly in a pottery factory until receiving a scholarship to study sculpting in Paris, France and soon became a successful sculpture, exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1844 and 1848. In 1859 he returned to Paris and opened a photography studio and with his use of lighting techniques, he became a leader in the field, rivaling fellow French photographer Felix Nadir.

In 1870 Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon was awarded the French Legion of Honor and was made a member of the French Photographic Society. Among his notable sculptures include busts of prominent French figures of the time, such as Victor Cousin, Odilon Barrot, Pierre-Jean de Beranger, Alphonse de Lamartine, and Gioachino Rossini. Adam-Salomon gave up photography in 1873 because of illness.

Achievements

Adam-Salomon's portrait photographs were considered to be among the best examples in existence during his lifetime, and were renowned for their chiaroscuro produced by special lighting techniques.

Works

Alphonse Karr, French critic, journalist and novelist Alphonse Karr, French critic, journalist and novelist

Charles Garnier, French architect Charles Garnier, French architect

Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian politician and revolutionary Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian politician and revolutionary

$Labeled as \$ Alfred-Auguste Cuvillier-Fleury Alfred-Auguste Cuvillier-Fleury

$Bust Of Isaac P\u00E9reire Bust Of Isaac P\u00E9reire$ $Buste d\'un homme aux favoris Buste d\'un homme aux favoris$

photography
- Portrait of a Girl
  1860
- The Philosopher
  1870
- Alphonse Karr, French critic, journalist and novelist
- Charles Garnier, French architect
- Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian politician and revolutionary
- Labeled as "General Giroflore", identity unknown
- Alfred-Auguste Cuvillier-Fleury
- Portrait of a Girl
- photography
- photography
  1876
- photography
sculpture
- Bust Of Isaac Péreire
  1860
- Buste d'un homme aux favoris
  1869

Membership

French Photographic Society

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

In the 1868 edition of the British Journal of Photography Almanac, editor J. Traill Taylor wrote: "The important discovery of the past year has been that M. Adams-Salomon, a Parisian photographer, has produced portraits of so high class as to show us the true capabilities of photography, and how much we have yet to overcome ere similar perfection can be claimed for the works of our average artists. It is far from being pleasant to know that we are so far behind the Parisians; but, believing such to be the case, the knowledge of the fact will, without doubt, rouse English artists to a sense of their shortcomings and the particular direction in which progress must be made."

Main Photo