From a wealthy family, Heinrich Kühn (1866-1944) is the perfect example of this generation of turn of the century “amateur photographers”. He quickly abandoned medical school to devote himself entirely to photography.

The exhibition at the Orangerie museum is a retrospective of his work. Heinrich Kühn used a variety of subjects, from landscapes to still lives, but most often photographed his children and Mary Wagner, the woman who was, if not his mistress, his favorite model and the children’s nanny. Passionate about photography, Heinrich Kühn was forever experimenting with new photographic techniques, including autochromes, the first color process invented by the Lumière brothers.

An exhibition catalogue published by Hatje Cantz is richly documented and offers some magnificent reproductions, respecting the artistic perfection of Heinrich Kühn for whom “the mechanical device is nothing more for the photographer than for example the paintbrush is for the painter.”

Heinrich Kühn. A la recherche de la photographie parfaite.Hatje Cantz publishers

Until January 24, 2011
Musée de l’Orangerie
Jardin des Tuileries
75001 Paris