The Man Who Invented Celebrity Photography

Celebrities ranging from Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt, to Mark Twain and Walt Whitman all made their way to the top-floor studio in Manhattan’s Union Square with its tiny elevator to have their images immortalized by Napoleon Sarony, who was the most famous photographer in America during the Gilded Age. Sarony’s genius lay in his ability to stage a photograph with poses, costumes, and makeshift stage settings all designed to allow the essence of a subject to come through. The result is that the images he created of so many of the Gilded Age’s most famous names have become the iconic images of each of them. But just who was Napoleon Sarony himself? In this show, Dr. Erin Pauwels, author and scholar, joins The Gilded Gentleman table to discuss the subject of her latest book and delve into Sarony’s eccentricities and genius. In addition, the show addresses issues of copyright and branding. Largely through Sarony’s work, the modern media celebrity image factory was born.