Ch. Chusseau-Flaviens
French ca 1890s-1910s
 
 

Among the larger collections at George Eastman House are nearly 11,000 glass negatives by Ch. Chusseau-Flaviens.

The collection was received in 1974 from Kodak Pathé. 
Little is known about Chusseau-Flaviens beyond what we can deduce from this substantial body of work itself.  Chusseau-Flaviens' by-line can be found along-side illustrations in French, German, and Belgian newspapers of the 1910s era.  He seems to have been an early free-lance photojournalist able to travel and gain access to various European royalty, armies, and political rallies.  Since those images credited to Chusseau-Flaviens in period publications do not match negatives at GEH, it is clear that the GEH holdings do not represent his entire production.  Holdings at GEH include work from England, Romania, Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Germany, Norway, and Russia, among others.

Chusseau-Flaviens acquired work by other photographers which he pinned to a copy board and annotated for retrieval in the same style used on his own original negatives.  He often includes the name of the photographer in the annotations in French along the edge of the glass negative.  In this manner, his offerings also included New Zealand, Japan and other areas to which he may not have travelled in person.  Conspicuous in its absence is any coverage of France.  This is another reason to suspect that the GEH holdings are incomplete.

Note:  The digital images presented here were generated at the Tapehouse in New York City from 35mm half-frames (motion picture format) filmed in the 1980s from the original negatives at GEH. They were previously published on GEH's first videodisc in 1987.

Publications (pre-1925) with illustrations by Chusseau-Flaviens:

Je Sais Tout A travers le Globe - Pourquoi nous l'avons tué par un des meurtriers du roi Alexandre de Serbie; March 1905; p 285-296

Je Sais Tout Interviewe S.M. Elisabeth: Le Roi, La Reine et la Familie Royale de Roumanie.  July 1906; p 1

The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper  March 20, 1909; p 1


Chusseu Flaviens Death Notice from Le Figaro  October 18, 1928; p. 2

 Countries Photographed by Chusseau Flaviens

 Country Unidentified by Chusseau Flaviens

 Series 17 - Belgian Royal Family. A series -possibly complete - from the glass negatives at GEM. Prince Albert & son

 Series 19 - Belgian Royal Family. An incomplete series from the glass negatives at GEM with a matching image from the Harris-Ewing collection at Library of Congress.

 Series 23 - Belgian Royal Family. An incomplete series from the glass negatives at GEM with a near matching image from Therese Bonney's 1933 book REMEMBER WHEN.


Andrew Eskind & Mary Panzer
August 2016