Auguste-Rosalie Bisson
Junction of the Bossons and Taconnaz Glaciers, Failed Ascent of Mont Blanc

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Images(2)

Artist Auguste-Rosalie Bisson French, 1826–1900

CultureFrench

Titles

Junction of the Bossons and Taconnaz Glaciers, Failed Ascent of Mont Blanc

DateAugust 1859

PlaceFrance

MediumAlbumen silver print from glass negative

DimensionsImage: 9 3/16 × 15 1/4 in. (23.3 × 38.8 cm)
Sheet: 9 3/16 × 15 1/4 in. (23.3 × 38.7 cm)
Mount: 17 5/16 × 24 7/16 in. (44 × 62 cm)

Credit LineGift of Manfred Heiting, The Manfred Heiting Collection

Object number2004.312

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Manfred Heiting Collection of Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionAlthough the transport of photographic equipment and the manipulation of chemical solutions for the wet collodion process was never an easy task, no more audacious challenge was undertaken in the early history of photography than the ascent of Mont Blanc and the making of views at the summit of the highest peak in the Alps. Bisson and his team—an experienced guide and twenty-five porters carrying his plates, cameras, chemicals, and portable darkroom tent—were thwarted by violent changes in weather on their attempted ascents in 1859 and 1860. Notwithstanding the paralyzing cold, a blinding snowstorm, avalanches, and the expected nausea and vertigo of high-altitude exploration, his team succeeded on its third attempt, reaching the 15,781-foot summit on July 24, 1861. By bringing his Parisian clientele a virtual experience few would ever realize in fact, Bisson was one of many photographers whose explorations of the globe dramatically expanded the known world for 19th-century urban audiences.
Provenance Research Ongoing Exhibition History“A History of Photography II: Selections from the Museum's Collection,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 17–July 19, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in pencil, recto of mount, lower right: "Ascension de M. Bisson au Mont Blanc"

Facsimile signature stamp in red, recto of mount, under lower right of image: "Bisson Freres"

Blind stamp lower left corner of the image: " F[backwards] B F "

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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