Time for a Pose: Uses and Histories of Photography in Tarn-et-Garonne

To mark the occasion, the Departmental Archives are hosting a roundtable discussion dedicated to the photographic heritage of Tarn-et-Garonne. Born of technological innovations that began in the early 19th century, photography had its own pioneers and promoters in Tarn-et-Garonne. Driven by the influence of nearby Toulouse, the thriving activity of learned societies dedicated to heritage preservation, the scientific experiments of self-taught enthusiasts, and the commercialization of photographic equipment, photography secured a prominent place in local history and gradually found its way into people's homes. As a fragile form of heritage—highly valued by researchers and collectors alike—photography presents historians and archivists with numerous challenges regarding the preservation of the physical media and the reuse of the images. François Bordes (archivist and photography historian), Madeleine Ortal (descendant of Léopold Mathet), and a representative from a photography studio will join Jérôme Cras and Johan Bories from the Departmental Archives for this discussion.