A thoroughly enjoyable biography that rattles on just like its energetic, bustling and innovative subject. It is well illustrated with many examples of photos taken by Nadar - great names of French culture and history. The care taken with George Sand to remove her double chin was interesting and amusing. Nadar's ballooning was fascinating and reckless. His daredevil can-do anything approach whatever the setback was impressive. ( )

When we in the 21st Century think about photography, we tend to think of a "great picture" the way we might think about a "great apartment": more for its functionality than its beauty. It may be beautiful, but we really appreciate it for what it can show us. So too, in the case of a photograph: the subject matter is what matters, most of the time. So it's hard to imagine that in the 19th century, when photography was in its infancy, it was seen, and practiced, as an art form. Not surprisingly, the photographers who first set up shop made portraiture their stock in trade. Its clientele not only wanted a lasting image which would remain long after they did; they were offering a poor man's commission of an art form that did more than just photograph the subject, but brought him or her to life, revealing personality and character through the lens of the camera.

Such was the greatness of the photographs of "The Great Nadar," the subject of this fascinating biography of the 19th century French photographer, artist, author, and aeronaut. A bit of a dilettante, his resume reads like a virtual catalogue of possible career choices: trained as a doctor, a caricaturist and artist, a balloonist, a photographer, entrepreneur, and essayist, Felix Nadar was a jack of all trades, one of those colorful French characters whose ambitions, experiences, friends, jobs, and overall life make the 21st century reader feel unaccomplished and provincial.

His photographs were pieces of art, and in this entertaining biography, Adam Begley gives us a glimpse of the man behind the camera. He delves into the more colorful aspects of Nadar's life, loves, family dramas, etc, highlighting the more entertaining episodes, like his infamous ballooning (mis)adventure that miraculously spared the lives of the travelers involved.

Nadar's portraiture photographs are mesmerizing, in their brilliance at capturing the subjects that sat for him. The photos are stunningly modern, capturing the essences of the models. The ones that spoke to me were his photos of a young Sarah Bernhardt, and those of an older George Sand. Nadar managed to expose something in each of his subjects that makes the viewer feel she is looking at an intimate moment rather than a posed portrait.

Begley, in his portrait, similarly allows Nadar's personality and character to shine through here. This was an entertaining read.

Thank you to the author and publisher for a review copy. ( )

The blurb on this book quoted a recent French Biography, "Who doesn't know Nadar?" Well, I didn't. And I thought his accomplishments fascinating: photographer, balloonist, entrepreneur, artist. Nadar did indeed lead a fascinating life, mingled with luminaries of the day, and in his way was the forerunner of the celebrity cult of today. His portraiture included in the book was a plus, enabling me to see some historic figures who have intrigued me. All in all, while the book was interesting, it didn't inthrall me, but I'm glad I read it.

Many thanks to Blogging for Books and the publishers for sending me this copy. ( )

Fascinating book that I got an advance read of courtesy of First to Read. My copy was an uncorrected proof.

For someone as famous as Felix Tournachon was, and for all that he did, I really don't recall having heard of him before, even by his better known pseudonym Nadar. Writer, caricaturist, photographer, balloonist, inventor...he was a 19th century polymath who trafficked in circles of the French celebrities of the day. His caricatures were incredibly detailed, but it was the portrait photography, wonderfully reproduced in the book, that is extraordinary. In the dawn of the art, Nadar, with primitive tools, created stunning, beautifully composed photographs. For those alone, the book is worth the read.

One quote, written in the early 1860s, stood out to me:

Photography is a marvelous discovery, a science that engages the most elevated intellects, an art that sharpens the wits of the wisest souls - the practical application of which lies within the capacity of the shallowest imbecile. This prodigious art which out of nothing makes something, this miraculous invention after which anything seems possible, this Photography which with applied Electricity and Chloroform makes our nineteenth century the greatest of all centuries [...]
This much can be learned...which means that anyone without exception, can safely aspire to call himself a photographer by tomorrow at the least.
I am going to tell you what cannot be learned: it's a fell for light - it's the artistic apprectiation of the effects produced by the various qualities of lighting alone or combined - it's the application of this or that effect according to the nature of the physiognomy that as an artist you aim to reproduce.
What is even less likely to be learned is the moral intelligence of your subject - the rapid tact that puts you in communion with your model ...and allows you to give...a more familiar and favorable resemblance, the intimate resemblance - that's the psychological aspect of photography, the word seems to me not too ambitious.

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