Paul-Émile Miot (1827-1900) Felix Auguste Leclerc (1838-1896)

2 Letter signed by Queen Pomaré, 1869/70

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 New-foundland. His first photo-graphic survey covers New-foundland, its coasts, and fisheries (1857-1862). 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

Paul-Émile Miot (February 11, 1827 Trinidad - December 7, 1900 Paris)

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4 Vue generale de la baie Cumberland, Île de Juan Fernandez, Chili, 1868/70, 18,3 x 24,9 cm

Paul-Émile Miot (1827-1900)All illustrated photographs are albumen prints from glass negatives.

5L‘Astrée au mouillage de Port-Famine, Détroit Magellan, Chili, 1868, 18,2 x 25,1 cm

6 Vue prise au Détroit de Magellan, Baie de Fortescue, Chili, 1868, 18,2 x 25,1 cm

7Vue dec Montevideo prise de l‘Île aux Rats, Uruguay, 1868, 18,3 x 25,1 cm

8 Colonie pénitentiaire de Punta Arena, Détroit de Magellan, Chili, 1868, 20.1 x 25.6 cm

9Colonie pénitentiaire de Punta Arena, Détroit de Magellan, Chili, 1868, 18.4 x 24.1 cm

10 Colonie pénitentiaire de Punta Arena, Détroit de Magellan, 1868, 18,2 x 25,2 cm

11Colonie pénitentiaire de Punta Arena, Détroit de Magellan, 1868, 18.9 x 25.7 cm

12Vue 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

text 13

14 Le débarcadère, Talcahuano, (la baie Cumberland, Île de juan Fernandez), 1869/70, 18.4 x 24.2 cm

15Vue de Talcahuano (la baie Cumberland. Île de Juan Fernandez), 1869/70, 19.9 x 25.1 cm

16 Observatoire et grotte de Alexander Selkirk, Baie Cumberland, Juan Fernandez, 1869/70, 18.2 x 24.1 cm

17Observatoire et grotte de Alexander Selkirk, Baie Cumberland, Juan Fernandez, 1868, 18,7 x 24,6 cm

18 Vue prise à Lota, 1869/70, 18,5 x 24,2 cm

19Fonderie de cuivre à Lota, 1869/70, 18,3 x 24,2 cm

20 État-Major de l‘Astrée, Callao, Fevrier, 1869, 18,1 x 24,2 cm

21Une rue de Payta, 1869/70, 15,7 x 25,5 cm

22Vue 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

text 23

24 Église de Payta, 1869/70, 16,9 x 24,1 cm

25Vue de la ville de Payta, 1869/70, 18,4 x 25,4 cm

26 Vue prise aux îles Chinchas, 1869/70, 18,4 x 24,9 cm

27Vue prise aux îles Chinchas, 1869/70, 17,3 x 25,4 cm

28 Vue prise aux îles Chinchas, 1869/70, 18,2 x 24,5

29Un cap aux Îles Chinchas, 1869/70, 18,6 x 25 cm

30 Pont de l‘Astrée, 1868-71, 24,3 x 18,6 cm

31Débarcadère de Papeete, 1869/70, 18,5 x 23,8 cm

32 Pointe de Fare Ute, ville et rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 16,6 x 24,1 cm

33Vue de Papeete, maison Brander, 1869/70, 16,7 x 23,2 cm

34 Vue de Papeete, 1869/70, 17 x 23,5 cm

35La fregate l‘Astrée en rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 15,5 x 23,3 cm

36 Vue de Papeete, Maison de consul anglais, 1869/70, 17,8 x 24,1 cm

37La frégate la Sybille au quai de Papeete, 1869/70, 18,8 x 25,1 cm

38 Vallée au soleil levant, Tahiti, 1869/70, 19,9 x 25,8 cm

39La Diademe, Tahiti, 1869/70, 18,4 x 24,2 cm

40 La Diademe, Tahiti, 1869/70, 18,5 x 24,1 cm

41Pont d‘Atimaono et maison de monsieur Steward, 1870, 18,4 x 24,1 cm

42 Hymenée et Tané (sic!), Femmes tahitiennes, 1869/70, 18,3 x 24 cm

43Deux Tahitiens, 1869/70, 21,1 x 16,6 cm

44 Cases des Indigènes des Îles Gilbert employés à l‘exploitation d‘Atimaono, 1870, 18,9 x 25,8 cm

45 Cases des indigènes des Îles Gilbert employés à l‘exploitation d‘Atimaono, 1870, 18,8 x 25,2 cm

46 La Reine Pomaré IV (1813-1877), 1869/70, 24,9 x 18,4 cm

47Palais de la Reine avec les frégates la Sybille et I‘Astrée, Papeete, 1869/70, 18,8 x 24,9 cm

48 Vue de Tahiti avec la frégate l‘Euryale, Îlot Motu-Huta, rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 17,1 x 24,2 cm

49Le point de Fare Ute, ville et rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 18,1 x 23,8 cm

50 La frégate l‘Astrée en rade de Papeete, 1869/70, 17 x 21,3 cm

51La princesse de Joinville, bru de la Reine Pomaré, 1869/70, 24,5 x 18,7 cm

52 Portrait de Titaoua, Mme. Brander, niece de la Reine Pomaré, 1869/70, 18,1 x 15 cm

53Mme. Moïtia Salmon, niece de la Reine Pomaré, sœur de la Mme. Brander, 1869/70, 25,8 x 19,2 cm

54 Ariifaïte, epoux de la Reine Pomaré IV, 1869/70, 25 x 18,3 cm

55Femme tahitienne, 1869/70, 24,3 x 18 cm

56 Baie de Papetoai, Moréa, 1869/70, 18,6 x 25,5 cm

57Montagne Percée, Moréa, 1869/70, 15,4 x 25,2 cm

58 Padanus à Moréa, 1869/70, 18,8 x 25,6 cm

59Etat-Major de l‘Astrée, Callao, Pérou, Février, 1869/70, 16 x 21,5 cm

60 Pandanus à Tahiti, 1869/70, 18,8 x 13,6 cm

61Habitation d‘Atimaono, Maison de monsieur Steward, 1870, 18,3 x 23,9 cm

62 Baie de Papetoai ou baie de Cook, Moréa, 1869/70, 18,3 x 24,1 cm

63Femme de l‘Île de Madeleine (Fatu Hiva), 1870, 24,5 x 19,3 cm

64 Le Roi de Vaï Tahou, Tahuata, 1870, 23,1 x 16,7 cm

65La famille royale de Vaï Tahou, Tahuata, 1870, 24,3 x 19,9 cm

66 Le fort Collet, baie de Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,5 x 25,2 cm

67Vue de Taio-Hae, prise du débarcadère, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,9 x 25,4 cm

68 Baie de Taio-hae, prise de l‘autre côte, 1870, 18,5 x 25 cm

69Banyan des sœurs à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,8 x 24,9 cm

70 Banyan des sœurs à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 19,4 x 25,1 cm

71L‘allee de la Reine à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 18,9 x 24,5 cm

72 Groupe à Taio-Hae, Nuku-Hiva, 1870, 21,4 x 17 cm

73Portrait des Indigènes de Nuku-Hiva au pied de l‘arbre de la Reine, 1870, 20,1 x 25,5 cm

74 Portrait de Tamoana, Reine de Nuku-Hiva, au pied de l‘arbre de la Reine, 1870, 19 x 25,3 cm

75Insulaires de Nuku-Hiva, auprès d‘une idole Tiki, 1870, 22,8 x 17,4 cm

76 Paul-Émile Miot or Felix Auguste Leclerc, Vue instantanée, prise à la mer, 1871, 17,3 x 21 cm

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78 Tirailleur Senegalais (Dakar), 1869-1871, 24,1 x 18 cm

Felix Auguste Leclerc (1838-1896)All illustrated photographs are albumen prints from glass negatives.

79Famille de Negres, 1869-1871, 23,8 x 18,3 cm

Felix Auguste Leclerc (1838-1896)

80 Enfants, 1869-1871, 24 x 18,3 cm

81Vue de..., 1869-1871, 18,3 x 24,1 cm

82 Une rue de la ville negre de Dakar (Senegal), (Vue de...), 1869-1871, 18,5 x 24,7 cm

83Negresse pilant le couscous (Dakar), (Negress pilant du couscous devant un cafe), 1869-1871, 21,4 x 17 cm

84 Groupe de negres (Dakar) (Place publique), 1869-1871, 18,5 x 24,3 cm

85Un 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 pmExhibition: March 13 – 22, 11 – 7 pm

TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair)MECC, 6229 GV MaastrichtThe Netherlands, Tel. +49 / 172 / 74 84 999

This book is online published in electronic format.

© Text, contents and photographsDaniel Blau

Maximilianstraße 2680539 MunichGermanycontact@danielblau.comTel.: +49 / 89 / 297 342www.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 informationstorage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the editor.

DANIEL BLAU