Biography

The French photographer Frédéric Flachéron became part of a circle of photographers in Italy. He was well known for his architectural views of Rome, which were exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Society of Art exhibition in 1852 in London. The Horblit Collection at Houghton Library holds 37 paper negatives and more than 80 prints created by Flachéron. A painter himself, Flachéron demonstrated skill and imagination in manipulating his negatives and often used painters’ materials. His techniques included masking, retouching, and coating the negative to block the sunlight. In this way, Flachéron could slow down the printing process and create images with less contrast and more mid-tones.