Pierre-Louis Pierson

Pierre-Louis Pierson (Hinckange (Moselle), 13 December 1822 – Paris, 22 March 1913) was a French portrait photographer.

Initially using the daguerreotype, the Pierson-Mayer studio became one of the first to specialise in portrait photography retouched with watercolour or oils.

[1] Between 1855 and 1862, at the peak of the Pierson-Mayer studio's prominence, people of all types came to have their pictures taken there, including the imperial court, the aristocracy, powerful businessmen, actresses and musicians.

In 1867, Pierson exhibited his portrait of the countess posed as the Queen of Hearts in the French section of photography at that year's Exposition Universelle in Paris.

Always at her disposal, Pierson photographed her exposed legs and feet, which were considered erotic imagery, very daring for the time.

In 1883, the Braun Company signed an exclusive thirty-year contract with the Louvre with the goal of reproducing photographically some 7,000 works of art.