Victor Hugo

Who was Victor Hugo?

Victor Hugo was born February 26, 1802 in Besançon and died May 22, 1885 in Paris. He was a French poet and playwrighter , he marked the history of the nineteenth century, and is still recognized thanks to his literary works, and also by his political speeches. He wrote works very well known as Les Châtiments (1853), Les Contemplations (1856) and Les Misérables in 1862.

To Jersey from France

Because of his political opinion, Victor Hugo could not stay in France during the reign of Napoleon III, and had to refuge in a discreet place. He moved to Jersey in 1852 and he stayed until 1855. Thanks to his refuge he was able to publish his political pamphlet against Napoleon III Napoléon le Petit and Histoire d’un crime. During his period of leaving in jersey he also composed and published some of his best work like Les Misérables, Les Châtiments 1853; Les Contemplations 1856 and La Légende des siècles 1859. Very quickly Victor Hugo becomes very interested in photography. He wants to use it as a political tool to show his image in France. So it becomes a family affair. His sons Charles and, François-Victor, organize a photographic workshop . The Jersey workshop was a unique adventure. It was both a look at the landscape that sometimes inspired Victor Hugo’s drawings and a testimony to an outlaw in exile. The Jersey Workshop was a photographic studio in the greenhouse at Marine Terrace. Victor Hugo’s project was to create a book on the Channel Islands illustrated with images. But the book was never finished, he still produced an intense production of salted paper prints.
The purpose of the workshop was to preserve the memory of the exiles, the portraits which were taken were placed in many albums which were sometimes adorned with paintings or collages by Charles Hugo.