Jean Laurent Biography
Jean Laurent (1816 - 1886) was a French photographer who worked mainly in Spain. Born in 1816 in Garchizy (Nièvre), his first contact with Spain seems to date back to 1845, when he won a medal at the Industrial Exhibition of Madrid, which rewarded his production of paper and cardboard. In 1848 he was registered in Madrid and in 1849 he was recorded in the records of the French Embassy as resident in Spain. Jean Laurent never returned to France, perhaps because he had refused to be drafted into the army in 1848. Therefore considered a deserter, he would have taken refuge in Spain, a country with which France had no extradition agreements. Laurent, who retained his French nationality, continued his career in Spain until his death on 24 November 1886. We do not know how he trained as a photographer, which he practiced from 1855, the year in which he invented a process of coloring photographic prints. He became a member of the French Society of Photography and as a portraitist, he received orders from the court in 1857 and created the first portraits of the Queen and King of Spain in 1860, as well as views of official celebrations. From 1860 he created a network of representatives abroad, particularly in London and Stuttgart. Laurent used advertising skillfully and participated in several exhibitions that allowed him to publicize his studio: the London Photographic Society exhibition in 1858, the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 and Vienna in 1873. At the forefront of innovations, the first press by collotype it was introduced in Spain in 1880 by the Maison Laurent. It allowed the photographer to diversify his production by publishing postcards and illustrations for printed books.
