Description
The 20 albumen photographs in Claude-Joseph Portier's album
Algérie pittoresque mostly depict the city of Algiers, and include views of streets in the casbah, gardens, fountains, interiors, a mosque, the
Governor's Palace, and the harbor. Images not of Algiers include a view on the route between Algiers and Tipaza, a waterfall
in the Vallée de l'Oued-Kébir in the province of Blidah, and a fountain in Birkhadem. Also included are five studio portraits
of Algerians.
Background
French-born photographer Claude-Joseph Portier (24 May 1841, Paris-9 May 1910, Algiers) operated a photography studio in Algiers
from around 1863 until the early 1880s. His advertisements in the newspaper Akhbar characterized his business as "photographie nouvelle." In addition to selling photographs in a wide variety of formats ranging
from cartes-de-visite to stereographs, Portier also sold photographic supplies and offered lessons in photography, and in
the early 1880s he held painting exhibitions at his premises.