A brief History: Programme Nadar
(Nadar Programme)
While the name Nadar has remained famous in the history of photography, the first name Paul is rarely added. And it isn't even mentioned in the history of cinema. These six sequences were nonetheless filmed around 1896 by Paul Nadar (1856 – 1939). Paul Nadar, son of Félix Tournachon, known as Nadar, was not as well-known as his father, a caricaturist and aeronaut who photographed the Paris smart set.
However Paul had a number of talents. At the age of 30 he took over the running of the studios from his renowned father. Now for a long time Paul's photos were attributed to Félix. He was also the first photographer-reporter to use the Eastman Kodak revolutionary procedure during an expedition along the Silk Road in 1890. He brought back more than 200 negatives with this practically documentary art of capturing gestures, flow and looks with precision. Finally Paul also worked in cinema, the only witnesses of this being these films.
French film theatre director Henri Langlois (1914-1977) acquired these films in February 1950 from Paul Nadar's widow. He did an initial remarkable editing with writer and film maker Marie Epstein (1889-1995). Both would do similar work in honour of the Lumière brothers and painter Henri Matisse (1869-1954). A print was then printed in 1970 from a nitrate element.
