Wide-angle photographs from a kite - among the first aerial photos ever taken
Simple
but ingenious: in 1888, Arthur Batut, a passionate
photographer, transfered his camera on to a kite and sent it
into the skies. Satellite photographs were only a step
away...
The
Arthur Batut museum, inaugurated, a century after his first
aerial photos, on the site of his first exploits, in
Labruguière near Castres in the Tarn
(see
aerial photo
taken from a kite). Photos,
archives, equipment are exhibited at the shade of the
original kite whose the frame has survived the century
unscathed. There are also other examples of his ingenuity,
including an automatic shutter release which used a small
explosive devise and a long fuse. Insatiable,
Batut experimented with all areas of photography:
autochromes, stereoscopic photographs (a technique used to
obtain topographic views), and photosynthesis. Also on view
are Batut's "portraits-types"
or trait photos, which show images of several people, of
similar origins, superimposed on the same photographic
plate. Arthur
Batut A
panorama of aerial photographs of the region, taken using
different methods is also offered, from the spy-pigeon or
pigeon-transported camera (very imprecise!) to the Spot
Satellite (much more easy to control). Thrilling
also are Batut's correspondence with numerous keen
autodidacts, whether friends, rivals or critics. Batut's
passion is still contagious a century later, and the museum
and all its exhibits put a spell on the visitor.
The
Batut museum now has a new site
Arthur Batut Museum Photographs by Kite 9 ter, rue Gambetta 81290 Labruguière Tel: 05 63 50 22 18/05 63 70 34 01 Open from 15:00 to 18:00, closed on tuesday |