PARIS.- Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs, New York, will present a selection of important works—ranging from rare images by Louis-Emile Durandelle of the Paris Opéra under construction to views of Petra and Egypt by Leavitt Hunt and Nathan Baker—at Paris Photo, 15-18 November 2012 at the Grand Palais.

Selected photographs by predominantly French and British masters will be on view, including a number of works by William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the photographic negative, and some of the earliest photographs of Burma by Captain Linnaeus Tripe, as well as work by Anna Atkins, Edouard Baldus, Julia Margaret Cameron, Rev. Calvert Richard Jones, Heinrich Kühn, and Joseph, vicomte Vigier.

Among the highlights will be La Mare aux Cygnes, a striking 1858 waterscape by Camille Silvy, depicting swans and boaters.The albumen print presents an early example of photo manipulation;the image was carefully composed by Silvy from three separate negatives.

Louis-Emile Durandelle is best known for his photographs of the construction of the Paris Opéra, designed by Charles Garnier, who commissioned the images. While his task was ostensibly mundane and simply documentary, Durandelle’s pictures of the ornament and decorations are anything but. The albumen print Sculptors working on the marble decor, 1860s, shows a group of artists with their statuary depicting deities of Greek mythology. This image is one of a group of unpublished views of the Paris Opéra under construction that will be on display.

Leavitt Hunt and Nathan Baker were the first Americans to photograph Egypt and the Middle East, predating J. B. Greene. They traveled to the region deliberately for this purpose in 1851-52. Two views of Petra and one of Egypt are on exhibit to the public for the first time.

Among the earliest images produced by William Henry Fox Talbot were photogenic drawings. Leaves and flowers of a plant, probably early 1839, in mauve and violet tones, is a unique example, likely dating from the very year Talbot announced his discovery. Additionally, one of Talbot’s most famous photographs, Footman at Carriage Door, October 14, 1840, a salt-fixed print accompanied by its original negative, will be on display. This animated picture is the first significant photograph on paper of a standing human figure.

The exhibition will be on view at Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs, Booth B10, at Paris Photo, 15-18 November 2012. The telephone number at the stand is + 917 273 4609.