My curiosity was immediately piqued when Mr Jean-Pierre Guittonneau, one of our Delcampers, told me about Adeline Boutain, one of the first woman photographers. He provided me with the opportunity to share some photographs by this little-known artist with you!
Who was Adeline Boutain?
The artist was born on 11 April 1862, as Adeline Libaux, in Machecoul, Loire Inférieure, where she spent her youth.
She married her first cousin Yves Boutain at 19 and the couple moved to Croix-de-Vie in Vendée. They had two boys. Unfortunately, Adeline Boutain was widowed very young, in 1895. She was 33 at the time.
She opened a shop selling fishing and beach accessories to earn enough money to run her household. However, her great passion was photography. On the advice of her friend, Doctor Marcel Baudouin, Adeline began taking pictures of the landscapes and people of Croix-de-Vie where she lived in the early 20th century.
She published her photos as postcards, which she sold in her shop.They provide an amazing testimonial to the life of her town and the surrounding region at the time.
The themes of the postcards are wide ranging. She took photos of people, landscapes, animals, buildings and local customs…It’s this diversity and her photographer’s eye which have ensured that her work is still of interest today.
Adeline Boutain lived a long time for her era, dying in 1946 at the age of 83.
Jean-Pierre Guittonneau dedicated a book to her in 2019 entitled “Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie en Cartes Postales”, published by La Geste. It is, of course, available on Delcampe.
You can also find Adeline Boutain’s postcards on Delcampe!
