Interested in the theatre, in 1854 Carjat published a series of lithographic caricatures of Parisian actors, each being accompanied by a comic verse.

These proved popular and Carjat later used reproductions to make cartes de visite, and the photographer Pierre Petit produced enlarged versions.

[2] In 1858, Carjat learned the profession of photography from Pierre Petit, and in 1861, he moved into his own workshop at number 56 Rue Laffitte in Paris.

Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud and Carjat were part of Vilains Bonshommes, a group created in 1869, which brought together poets and artists like André Gill, Théodore de Banville and Henri Fantin-Latour.

In January 1872, a quarrel broke out during a dinner organized by this group, and Rimbaud injured Étienne Carjat with the cane-sword of Albert Mérat.