Biography

Henri Le Secq was both a professional painter and photographer. Initially trained in sculpture he studied in several Paris studios including that of Paul Delaroche. He was also an antiquarian and was concerned by the destruction of medieval Paris during the modernising projects in the 1850s. In 1851, Le Secq was a founder member of the Société Héliographique and one of the five architectural photographers chosen by the government for the mission héliographique to record ancient and medieval monuments suffering from centuries of damage and neglect.