Paul-Émile Miot (1827-1900) Felix Auguste Leclerc (1838-1896)
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Letter signed by Queen PomarĂŠ, 1869/70
Paul-Émile Miot (February 11, 1827 Trinidad - December 7, 1900 Paris) Paul-Émile Miot was born in Trinidad in1827 to a mother from Martinique and a French father. After finishing his studies at the École Navale he sailed to the Antilles on HMS Sybille. In 1857 he photographed in Newfoundland and a year later became a member of the Société Française de Photographie. After a campaign in the Baltic, he found himself under the command of Admiral Cloué in Newfoundland. His first photo-graphic survey covers New-foundland, its coasts, and fisheries (18571862). Cloué describes the technique used by Miot in some detail and explains that one needs at least 13 shots to measure the horizon. He also seems to say that the photographic laboratory was installed on board the ship. A year after opening a photographic studio in 1862 at the Dépot des Cartes et Plans de la Marine he set out for Mexico and Martinique taking a series of stunning photographs. In the years 1868-71 he photographed in America and the Pacific, producing more than 60 photographs of Tahiti, Moorea and the Marquesas. In 1875 he was promoted to Captain and then in 1888 to Vice-Admiral. After leaving the Navy in 1892 he worked untill his death in 1900 as curator in the Musée de la Marine et d’Ethnologie at the Louvre in Paris. Miot‘s compositions reflect a respect for the interplay of light and shadow. In the landscapes there are almost no cast shadows… everything seems to be photographed at high noon… or late afternoon just before the last moments of daylight. Magic and folklore permeate these photographs as they do Polynesian life. His photographs, whether they portray the craggy peaks or the local figures encompass
this dual nature where blood and beauty are somehow meshed: one feels no fear - but the subjects are charged with tension and dignity. His observations of the people and coast of Tahiti have an almost otherworld quality: they are neither completely distanced scientific observations nor hasty snapshots of the “naturals”. There is a real love in their poses, and he seems to have made a huge effort in placing them in composed structured attitudes, using local objects as polarizing elements. In the final analysis, each is looking at the other, and it is this “double vision” that makes the photographic eye so compelling. Miot also does not distance himself from his subject, whether it is a massive tree, or a group of people. He is one and the same with them, endlessly returning to the same points, as in some of the panoramas, he depicts and repaints each scene with marvel and precision, and this in itself animates them. Navigating between cool and warm waters, within the play of light and cast shadows, where tattoos simulate the line and symmetry of nature, photo-graphy becomes an art form and the perfect bedfellow: the scene is the mid-nineteenth century where discovery and art challenge each other in the invention of paradise.
Excerpt from the text by Sydney Picasso in The Invention of Paradise 1845-1870, ed. by Daniel Blau, München 2008 3
Paul-Émile Miot (1827-1900) All illustrated photographs are albumen prints from glass negatives.
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Vue generale de la baie Cumberland, ĂŽle de Juan Fernandez, Chili, 1868/70, 18,3 x 24,9 cm
L窶連strﾃｩe au mouillage de Port-Famine, Dﾃｩtroit Magellan, Chili, 1868, 18,2 x 25,1 cm
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Vue prise au DĂŠtroit de Magellan, Baie de Fortescue, Chili, 1868, 18,2 x 25,1 cm
Vue dec Montevideo prise de l窶佚四e aux Rats, Uruguay, 1868, 18,3 x 25,1 cm
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Colonie pĂŠnitentiaire de Punta Arena, DĂŠtroit de Magellan, Chili, 1868, 20.1 x 25.6 cm
Colonie pĂŠnitentiaire de Punta Arena, DĂŠtroit de Magellan, Chili, 1868, 18.4 x 24.1 cm
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Colonie pĂŠnitentiaire de Punta Arena, DĂŠtroit de Magellan, 1868, 18,2 x 25,2 cm
Colonie pĂŠnitentiaire de Punta Arena, DĂŠtroit de Magellan, 1868, 18.9 x 25.7 cm
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Vue prise au Dètroit de Magellan, 1868, 18.3 x 24.1 cm Right: (detail): Colonie pénitentiaire de Punta Arena, Détroit de Magellan, Chili, 1868, 18.4 x 24.1 cm
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Le dﾃｩbarcadﾃｨre, Talcahuano, (la baie Cumberland, ﾃ四e de juan Fernandez), 1869/70, 18.4 x 24.2 cm
Vue de Talcahuano (la baie Cumberland. ﾃ四e de Juan Fernandez), 1869/70, 19.9 x 25.1 cm
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Observatoire et grotte de Alexander Selkirk, Baie Cumberland, Juan Fernandez, 1869/70, 18.2 x 24.1 cm
Observatoire et grotte de Alexander Selkirk, Baie Cumberland, Juan Fernandez, 1868, 18,7 x 24,6 cm
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Vue prise Ă Lota, 1869/70, 18,5 x 24,2 cm
Fonderie de cuivre Ă Lota, 1869/70, 18,3 x 24,2 cm
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État-Major de l‘Astrée, Callao, Fevrier, 1869, 18,1 x 24,2 cm
Une rue de Payta, 1869/70, 15,7 x 25,5 cm
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Vue de la plage de Payta, 1869/70, 17.6 x 25.3 cm; right: (detail): État-Major de l‘Astrée, Callao, Fevrier, 1869, 18,1 x 24,2 cm
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Église de Payta, 1869/70, 16,9 x 24,1 cm
Vue de la ville de Payta, 1869/70, 18,4 x 25,4 cm
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Vue prise aux ĂŽles Chinchas, 1869/70, 18,4 x 24,9 cm
Vue prise aux ĂŽles Chinchas, 1869/70, 17,3 x 25,4 cm
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Vue prise aux ĂŽles Chinchas, 1869/70, 18,2 x 24,5
Un cap aux ﾃ四es Chinchas, 1869/70, 18,6 x 25 cm
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Pont de l窶連strﾃｩe, 1868-71, 24,3 x 18,6 cm
Débarcadère de Papeete, 1869/70, 18,5 x 23,8 cm
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Pointe de Fare Ute, ville et rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 16,6 x 24,1 cm
Vue de Papeete, maison Brander, 1869/70, 16,7 x 23,2 cm
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Vue de Papeete, 1869/70, 17 x 23,5 cm
La fregate l窶連strﾃｩe en rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 15,5 x 23,3 cm
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Vue de Papeete, Maison de consul anglais, 1869/70, 17,8 x 24,1 cm
La frĂŠgate la Sybille au quai de Papeete, 1869/70, 18,8 x 25,1 cm
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VallĂŠe au soleil levant, Tahiti, 1869/70, 19,9 x 25,8 cm
La Diademe, Tahiti, 1869/70, 18,4 x 24,2 cm
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La Diademe, Tahiti, 1869/70, 18,5 x 24,1 cm
Pont d窶連timaono et maison de monsieur Steward, 1870, 18,4 x 24,1 cm
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HymenĂŠe et TanĂŠ (sic!), Femmes tahitiennes, 1869/70, 18,3 x 24 cm
Deux Tahitiens, 1869/70, 21,1 x 16,6 cm
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Cases des Indigènes des Îles Gilbert employés à l‘exploitation d‘Atimaono, 1870, 18,9 x 25,8 cm
Cases des indigènes des Îles Gilbert employés à l‘exploitation d‘Atimaono, 1870, 18,8 x 25,2 cm
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La Reine PomarĂŠ IV (1813-1877), 1869/70, 24,9 x 18,4 cm
Palais de la Reine avec les frﾃｩgates la Sybille et I窶連strﾃｩe, Papeete, 1869/70, 18,8 x 24,9 cm
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Vue de Tahiti avec la frégate l‘Euryale, Îlot Motu-Huta, rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 17,1 x 24,2 cm
Le point de Fare Ute, ville et rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 18,1 x 23,8 cm
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La frﾃｩgate l窶連strﾃｩe en rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 17 x 21,3 cm
La princesse de Joinville, bru de la Reine PomarĂŠ, 1869/70, 24,5 x 18,7 cm
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Portrait de Titaoua, Mme. Brander, niece de la Reine PomarĂŠ, 1869/70, 18,1 x 15 cm
Mme. Moïtia Salmon, niece de la Reine Pomaré, sœur de la Mme. Brander, 1869/70, 25,8 x 19,2 cm
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Ariifaïte, epoux de la Reine Pomaré IV, 1869/70, 25 x 18,3 cm
Femme tahitienne, 1869/70, 24,3 x 18 cm
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Baie de Papetoai, MorĂŠa, 1869/70, 18,6 x 25,5 cm
Montagne Percée, Moréa, 1869/70, 15,4 x 25,2 cm
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Padanus à Moréa, 1869/70, 18,8 x 25,6 cm
Etat-Major de l窶連strﾃｩe, Callao, Pﾃｩrou, Fﾃｩvrier, 1869/70, 16 x 21,5 cm
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Pandanus Ă Tahiti, 1869/70, 18,8 x 13,6 cm
Habitation d窶連timaono, Maison de monsieur Steward, 1870, 18,3 x 23,9 cm
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Baie de Papetoai ou baie de Cook, MorĂŠa, 1869/70, 18,3 x 24,1 cm
Femme de l窶佚四e de Madeleine (Fatu Hiva), 1870, 24,5 x 19,3 cm
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Le Roi de Va誰 Tahou, Tahuata, 1870, 23,1 x 16,7 cm
La famille royale de Va誰 Tahou, Tahuata, 1870, 24,3 x 19,9 cm
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Le fort Collet, baie de Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,5 x 25,2 cm
Vue de Taio-Hae, prise du débarcadère, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,9 x 25,4 cm
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Baie de Taio-hae, prise de l‘autre côte, 1870, 18,5 x 25 cm
Banyan des sœurs à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,8 x 24,9 cm
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Banyan des sœurs à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 19,4 x 25,1 cm
L‘allee de la Reine à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,9 x 24,5 cm
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Groupe à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 21,4 x 17 cm
Portrait des Indigènes de Nuku-Hiva au pied de l‘arbre de la Reine, 1870, 20,1 x 25,5 cm
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Portrait de Tamoana, Reine de Nuku-Hiva, au pied de l‘arbre de la Reine, 1870, 19 x 25,3 cm
Insulaires de Nuku-Hiva, auprès d‘une idole Tiki, 1870, 22,8 x 17,4 cm
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Paul-Émile Miot or Felix Auguste Leclerc, Vue instantanée, prise à la mer, 1871, 17,3 x 21 cm
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Felix Auguste Leclerc (1838-1896) All illustrated photographs are albumen prints from glass negatives.
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Tirailleur Senegalais (Dakar), 1869-1871, 24,1 x 18 cm
Famille de Negres, 1869-1871, 23,8 x 18,3 cm
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Enfants, 1869-1871, 24 x 18,3 cm
Vue de..., 1869-1871, 18,3 x 24,1 cm
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Une rue de la ville negre de Dakar (Senegal), (Vue de...), 1869-1871, 18,5 x 24,7 cm
Negresse pilant le couscous (Dakar), (Negress pilant du couscous devant un cafe), 1869-1871, 21,4 x 17 cm
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Groupe de negres (Dakar) (Place publique), 1869-1871, 18,5 x 24,3 cm
Un baobab (Dakar), 1869-1871, 25 x 19,5 cm
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This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition “Voyage”at Tefaf Maastricht, March 2015 Opening: March 12, 2015, 12 – 9 pm Exhibition: March 13 – 22, 11 – 7 pm TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair) MECC, 6229 GV Maastricht The Netherlands, Tel. +49 / 172 / 74 84 999 This book is online published in electronic format. © Text, contents and photographs Daniel Blau Maximilianstraße 26 80539 Munich Germany contact@danielblau.com Tel.: +49 / 89 / 297 342 www.danielblau.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the editor.
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DANIEL BLAU