Carol Szathmari

Carol Popp de Szatmary

Carol Szathmari (Hungarian: Szathmáry Pap Károly, Romanian: Carol Popp de Szathmary, 11 January 1812- 3 June 1887) was a painter, lithographer and photographer. He was among the first combat photographers in the battlefield of the Crimean War (1853-1856, there were also Roger Fenton, William Russell, and Ludwig Angerer)

CdV format (photo by Carol Popp de Szatmary)

Before discovering the inclination for photography, he studied painting and engraving, two popular arts in that period. Later, he realized the importance of documentary photography, and this vision made him the first man to capture photographic images on the battlefield. ^[1]

He was the first certified photographer in Romania, being also one of the first 10 photographers in Europe. Carol Popp de Szathmary was the official photographer of the Romanian ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza and of the first king of Romania, Carol I of Romania. Most of his life he worked and lived in Bucharest, where he died. He is the first chronicler of Art Photography in Romania, his article entitled Photographie Parisienne appeared in "Photographische Correspondenz" in Vienna in 1865. [1]

Paintings

Church, Bucarest
Pe valea Oltului, oil

the Crimean War

In 1848, Szathmari began to experiment with photography. The outbreak of the Russian-Ottoman War in late June 1853 saw the Romanian principalities occupied by the Russian army. In April 1854, Szathmari filled a van with his cameras and glass plates and went to the border of the Danube to document the fighting between the Russian and Turkish armies. The result of Szathmari's bravery and hard work was a photographic album. His album, containing some two hundred images, became famous due to its presentation at the 1855 Paris World Exhibition and Szathmari was awarded the Second Class Medal for his work. From that time on, photography, painting and lithography were always closely connected in Szathmari's career. In 1864 he became member of the Société Française de Photographie in Paris and in 1870 of the one in Vienna. In 1863, he received the title of Ruling Prince's Court Painter and Photographer which he kept for the rest of his life. The official painter followed his patron, Prince Carol I, on the battlefield during the Russian-Romanian-Ottoman War of 1877, which was waged south of the Danube. Along martial compositions and albums, Szathmari had long been attracted by folk types and produced a large series of pictures with peasants, gypsies, postillions, merchants and artisans. He toured the fairs and the crowded streets of the town in search of picturesque types. The artist's last major work was the chromolithographic album of the symbolic carts which paraded the Capital city on 10-11 May 1881, King Carol's coronation pageant. Szathmari died in Bucharest 3 June 1887. [2]