Volume 10 of the biographical series «Stories of Photographers» which was started in 2018, tells the story of an amateur photographer (all the previous volumes spoke of professionals). The works of Jean François Charles André Flachéron, known as Frédéric, are well-known, universally recognized for their high technical level, and of considerable economic value, but until now we knew little or nothing of his life and the information available in literature and on the web is not always correct. Frédéric’s photographic activities are limited to a few years, however, he was a respected sculptor and engraver of medallions who for a number of years, with his wife Caroline-Charlotte Hayard, ran a shop selling materials for painting and sculpture in Piazza di Spagna, in Rome.
Flachéron developed a chemical procedure (amended with regard to that of Fox Talbot and of Blanquart-Evrard) that became a benchmark for all those, professionals and amateurs, who wanted to photograph Rome in particular conditions of lighting and weather: the amended “Roman method” or “Flachéron method” was demonstrated particularly in the years 1849 to 1853 (he was active in the period 1847-1853).
Introduction
It is my pleasure to present volume 10 of the biographical series «Stories of Photographers» which was started in 2018: this is an objective that I never expected to reach; nor would I have ever believed that this series would be so widely appreciated internationally (this simply drives me to undertake new research).
This is a special edition, also because it tells the story of an amateur photographer (all the previous volumes spoke of professionals): the works of Jean François Charles André Flachéron, known as Frédéric, are well-known, universally recognized for their high technical level, and of considerable economic value, but until today we knew little or nothing of his life and the information available in literature and on the web is not always correct (in many cases, information attributed to Frédéric have been confused with other members of the family, such as his brother Isidore).
Frédéric’s photographic activities are limited to a few years, however, as I mentioned, he was not a professional photographer but a respected sculptor and engraver of medallions who for a number of years, with his wife Caroline-Charlotte Hayard, ran a shop selling materials for painting and sculpture in Piazza di Spagna, in Rome.
Flachéron developed a chemical procedure (amended with regard to that of Fox Talbot and of Blanquart-Evrard) that became a benchmark for all those, professionals and amateurs, who wanted to photograph Rome in particular conditions of lighting and weather: the amended «Roman method» or «Flachéron method» was demonstrated particularly in the years 1849 to 1853, the period in which he was active.
His brother Isidore, previously mentioned, also lived in Rome for many years, a celebrated artist, he was – like Frédéric – certainly present at the meetings of the artists at the Caffè Greco, as were other members of the Flachéron family.
An important note on the surname: Frédéric signed ‘Flachéron’, with an accent on the ‘e’, but the documents at the public records office (above all the French ones) indicated him
and his family as ‘Flacheron’, without an accent. So, which should we consider correct? After much consideration I decided on the former, Flachéron, which he preferred also when he signed his photographic and sculptural works.
"Frédéric Flachéron of Lyon, sculptor and photographer", by Roberto Caccialanza
(volume 10 of the biographical series «Stories of Photographers»)
Text: English / Italian
152 color pages (73 figures), size 29.7x21 cm.
Soft-touch 300 gsm softcover, pages made of premium matte coated paper, 170 gsm.
Photography:k | series, January 2026
ISBN: 9791224051879
See: https://robertocaccialanza.com/vol.-10---frederic-flacheron.html
