Jules Alphonse Eugène Itier (1802–1877) was a French customs inspector and amateur
daguerreotypist. Between 1842 and 1843 he traveled to
Senegal, Guadeloupe and
India, where he took a number of early daguerreotypes.
In December 1843, Itier was sent to accompany
Théodore de Lagrené on his journey to China, where he had been dispatched by
Louis Philippe to conclude a commercial treaty. In China, Itier documented the conclusion of the
Treaty of Whampoa and took a number of daguerreotypes of Chinese people and scenery in the
Guangdong region. Although the daguerreotype reportedly reached China in the later stages of the
First Opium War, Itier's daguerreotypes are the earliest preserved photographs of China. Upon his return to France, Itier wrote an extensive travelogue of his journey to China.
Itier, Jules, Julie Guiyot-Corteville, Rémi Calzada, Éric Karsenty, and Musée français de la photographie. Jules Itier, Premières photographies de la Chine, 1844. Catalogue de l'exposition, [Centre Culturel de Chine, Paris, 14-27 novembre 2012]. Évry: Publication du Musée français de la photographie-Conseil général de l'Essonne, 2012. ISBN 978-2950708229
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jules Itier.