[The Hamlet of Optevoz]

Giroux took up the new medium of photography in the 1850s, but he was a painter by training and temperament. It is not surprising, then, that his image of rustic stone cottages nestled in the scenic French countryside embodies the aesthetic traditions of painting as filtered through the camera. Unafraid of disturbing the photographic purity of his images, Giroux often manipulated his negatives after exposure, creating effects reminiscent of his painted landscapes; in this example, he utilized a second negative to print a cloud-laden sky above the landscape.