Eugène Pirou

The invention of photography in the mid-nineteenth century transformed portraiture. No longer need patrons sit before artists for hours on end; instead, a relatively short session led to concrete likenesses. The earliest form of photography, daguerreotype, required sitters to remain still for approximately ten minutes, and often heads were held in place by a brace. By the end of the century, however, camera techniques had evolved, and the results, often tinted, were more relaxed and realistic.

The French photographer, cinematographer, and portraitist Eugène Pirou (1841–1909) was highly popular and a savvy businessman. His early work dates to the time of the Paris Commune, 1871, when he used his camera to document slain communards. He was present at the 1889 Exposition—marked by the opening of the Eiffel Tower—and took photographs of a broad selection of celebrities and visiting dignitaries. Among his subjects were Louis Pasteur, Gustave Eiffel, and Emil Zola. On the mats of his later photographs, Pirou proudly engraved in gold lettering the following: 10 Medailles d’Or, 1 Diplome d’Honneur, Medaille d’Or Expon Univle 1889. [10 Gold Medals, 1 Diploma of Honor, Gold Medal Exposition Universal 1889]

Pirou was also a pioneer of moving pictures. Calling himself “photographe des rois” [photographer of kings] he recorded on film the visit of Tsar Nikolas II to France in October 1896, showing various official activities. [1] More notoriously, he is credited with producing the earliest risqué movie, Le Coucher de la Mariée—“the bedtime of the bride”—a three-minute striptease starring Louise Willy as an aristocratic woman preparing for her bath. He went on to make several other pornographic films, one of which, when it was shown in Britain, “had to be withdrawn from a London music hall in January 1897 after protests from the more respectable clientele.” [2]

Notes:

[1] Bottomore, Stephen. “Eugène Pirou.” Who’s Who of Victorian Cinema. http://www.victorian-cinema.net/pirou.htm

[2] Simon Brown, “Early Cinema in Britain and the Smoking Concert Film,” Early Popular Visual Culture3, no. 2, 167.