Setting the Emperor's Table from the album Memories of the Camp de Châlons under General Decaën
Gustave Le Gray
French, 1820–1884
1857
An albumen silver print made from a wet‑collodion glass negative in which Gustave Le Gray documents and subtly stages attendants setting an elaborate outdoor dining table at the imperial camp of Châlons, mixing documentary purpose with careful composition.
What strikes the eye is the long white tablecloths and tiny, purposeful figures arranged like small sculptures against a broad, sunlit field and a backdrop of slender trees, imparting an uncanny calm and formal order to an otherwise informal encampment.
The work shows how Le Gray used the then‑new wet‑collodion technique to create crisp, large‑scale images that blurred reportage and art, helping define photography’s role in recording state ritual and modern life in the mid‑19th century.
Medium
Albumen silver print from a wet-collodion glass negative
Dimensions
11 1/8 × 14 1/2" (28.3 × 36.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Paul F. Walter
Accession
325.1991.20
Palette
Exhibitions
