“At last we have a comprehensive book in the English language about one of the most interesting of photography’s pioneers. Incessantly experimental and an omnivorous picture maker, Hippolyte Bayard is a photographer who has stood the test of time: as this copiously illustrated book demonstrates, his work is as fascinating today as it was in the nineteenth century.”
—Geoffrey Batchen, Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford
“This marvelous volume, the first of its kind in English, combines comprehensive archival research on the elusive Bayard with penetrating short essays on individual photographs. With its meticulously researched chapters by Bayard experts and gorgeous illustrations that can stand in for those of the photographs that are now too fragile to exhibit, this book is a windfall to historians of photography. It is not an exaggeration to say the field has been waiting years for a publication like this. In addition to its scholarly contribution, this book will be a revelation to any lover of photography.”
—Laurie Dahlberg, Associate Professor, Program in Art History and Photography, Bard College
“Illuminating Bayard through his social connections, self-contradictions, and critical fortune, this essential volume brings to light a key figure in the invention of photography too long relegated to the shadows. Most significantly, Bayard is revealed through his lifework of photographs, most from the Getty album and many published here for the first time.”
—Stephen C. Pinson, Curator of Photographs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
“The most detailed and rich book I have read thus far about this forgotten pioneer.”
~Sandrine Hermand-Grisel, All About Photo
“The catalog for the show, Hippolyte Bayard and the Invention of Photography, should appeal to a wide audience. It has an informative, well-illustrated chronology to put matters in perspective.”
~Bondo Wyszpolski, Easy Rider News
“Superbly illustrated publication.”
~Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books
