THE INVENTION OF PARADISE 1845

When the commander of the French Navy Paul-Émile Miot was sent in 1869 to the Astrée to Oceania, he took his camera equipment on boa rd. The photographs taken on this trip and now present in a picture book, are not only unique ... because they are the first photogr aphic documentation of the South Sea peoples. In particular, the exceptionally elaborate compositions of the motives and the special , almost loving gaze with which Miot staged his portraits, make these recordings to valuable documents of contemporary history...