Charles Francois Jeandel (1859 – 1942)

Charles-Francois Jeandel (1859 – 1942) was a french amateur painter and (erotic) photographer. He was member of the Societé Archéologique de Charente and lived quietly in the countryside. His photographic repertoire contained a reportory of local roman chapels, local scenery, his house and family.
Jeandel was a bourgeois of a quiet French province. He was an educated man, aspiring artist, regional archeology enthusiast with Catholic convenience, and married to a much younger wife.

So far nothing points in the direction of fetish photography, but then there was this notorious photo album with hundred of photos showing female nude woman in bondage, showing marks on their body, gagged and blindfolded. Sometimes two woman, mostly one, and on a rare occasion a male is seen in the photos.

The only thing written on the album was the name Jeandel. The photos were cyanotypes, to make them better viewable online I have modified them. The original collection is situated in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. They were shot around 1895/1896 and it is believed that one of the young females in his photos is his (future) wife, who during the time of the photos was 18 or 19.

On most of his photos, taken in a Parisian studio, you can see a great firefighter table, this painting (Charentais firefighter) is still hanging in the grand staircase of the Hotel de Ville d’Angoulême. There is a very interesting article written by  Alain François  about Jeandel, however this one is in French and my skills are too poor to translate parts of the text to add some additional info to this short bio.
You can read the article here.