Jules David (photographer)
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16 April 1848
Jules David | |
|---|---|
 Back of a carte de visite photograph | |
| Born | Jules David-Cavaz 16 April 1848 Pinsot, France |
| Died | 8 October 1923 (aged 75) Levallois-Perret, France |
| Occupation | Photographer |
- The photographer Jules David is not to be confused with the lithographer Jules David.
Jules David, also Jules David-Cavaz[1] (16 April 1848 – 8 October 1923), was a French photographer. In France, he was one of the first professional photographers to specialize in school photography. With his specialty, he built up an international career, often returning to schools, institutions and companies that he had worked with previously. Based in Levallois-Perret near Paris, he worked throughout Europe, and beyond, for almost forty years, traveling as far as Norway, Russia, Greece and Brazil.
Jules David-Cavaz was born the son of Jean David-Cavaz and Françoise Capitant in the hamlet of Charvin, near the village of Pinsot in the Isère department of South-Eastern France. His parents were propriétaires, land-owning farmers, so his family was probably not entirely poor.[2]
Little is known about the first 20 years of his life. Nor do we know where he learned his photographic skills. In 1867, nineteen years old, he worked as an independent "group photographer" (photographe des groupes). In 1869 he was working with the photographer Claude Bretagne (1824–1880) in Leuven, Belgium.[3] In 1870–1871 he served in the French army during the Franco-Prussian War.[2] He left the army in August 1871 as a sergeant major. He was a recipient of the French Médaille militaire.
In 1873 David opened, together with Bretagne, a photo studio at the rue Gravel 54 in Levallois-Perret. The studio advertised specifically with "school photographs" (photographies des écoles), whereby schools included secondary schools, boarding schools, teacher training colleges and military academies. The association with Bretagne ended after two or three years, in 1875 or 1876, after which David set up his own studio at the rue Gravel 50. Levallois-Perret was to remain his home base for the rest of his life. After a short stay at the rue Trézel 19, in 1879 he moved to rue des Courcelles 90. In 1897 he won a bronze medal at the Brussels International Exposition.[4] From 1902 to 1910 he lived in the Rue Rivay in Levallois-Perret.[2]
On 8 October 1874 Jules David married Marie Cécile Mathilde Daman (1851-1929)[5] in Leuven, Belgium, where his wife was born.[6][7] There are indications that David became a relatively wealthy man and that he was involved in philanthropy. After World War I he volunteered to pay for a monument commemorating the dead in his birthplace Pinsot. He also donated a large sum to the local school, which the pupils then decided to devote to the rebuilding of the destroyed school in Manicamp, Northern France.[8]
David died, aged 75, on 8 October 1923 in his home in the rue Président Wilson 90. He was survived by his wife Marie Cécile Mathilde Daman.[7]
Work
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David's work differs from that of the numerous traveling photographers of the late 19th century. Photography was still a relatively new discipline and in some regions of Europe few photo studios existed. Travelling photographers filled the gap, advertising their services wherever they went. Generally, portrait photography was all they had on offer. This was not the case with Jules David who carefully prepared his travels and almost exclusively worked with clients who wanted more than a simple portrait. His preferred clients were educational institutions of the bourgeoisie, among them military schools and boarding schools, where French was often the language of instruction.
As a rule, he would take a series of photographs of the building and its interior, he would then prepare a number of carefully composed group portraits of teachers and students, often complemented with 'action' photographs of students taking classes or involved in leisure activities. He then finished the production in his studio in Levallois.[9] The finished product, often a luxury album bound in linen or red leather with imprints in gold, was sent free of charge to the head of the institution after which directors, teachers, students or employees would choose the images they wanted a copy of.[10]
The demand for this type of photographs diminished towards the end of the century. There was more competition from local photographers who were able to provide schools with simpler – and thus cheaper – class photographs. The era of technical challenges and carefully prepared compositions was over. David ended his international career shortly after 1910, after which he exclusively worked in France. With his associate Edmond Vallois he ran a photo studio at the rue de Rennes[11] in Paris.[12] Many of his negatives on glass were sold to the then flourishing picture postcard industry, which after his retirement remained an important source of income for his successor Vallois.
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