[South side of Notre-Dame, Paris, during restoration]

Hippolyte Bayard (1801-1887) was a French photographer and inventor, best known for his invention of the direct positive photographic process. He was one of the pioneers of photography and a contemporary of Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot. Born in Breteuil-sur-Noye, France, Bayard began experimenting with photography in the 1830s. In 1839 he invented the direct positive process, which allowed photographers to produce a positive image directly onto a sheet of paper without the need for a negative. Bayard's invention was a major breakthrough in photography and helped pave the way for the development of modern photographic techniques. However, his contribution to the field was overshadowed by the success of Daguerre and Talbot, who both patented their own photographic processes around the same time. In addition to his work in photography, Bayard was also an accomplished painter and sculptor. He died in Nemours, France, in 1887 at the age of 86.