Unseen photography from the 19th century

This year, we are celebrating 200 years of photography in Belgium. Photos are commonplace today, but in the 19th century, this was still an exceptional phenomenon. This stamp issue zooms in on the early years of photography in Belgium and showcases the work of several Belgian pioneers in the 19th century. Issue date: January 26, 2026. What a beautiful sheet from our southern neighbors. Do you collect the theme 'photography'?

Unseen photography from the 19th century

When Belgium had only just gained independence, photography arrived as a revolutionary novelty. Barely weeks after the official announcement of the invention in France and England, the medium was already appearing in our country. A young nation in search of identity found in photography a powerful tool to express itself. “Photography offered a new means to document reality,” says Tamara Berghmans, collection curator at FOMU. “Belgian photographers actively contributed to the visual construction of the country.” Yet, our photographic history remained underexposed for a long time. With the exhibition Early Gaze, the Fotomuseum Antwerpen is changing that. Bpost is also doing its part with a special stamp issue.

Technology as a challenge The first photographs used daguerreotype or salt print, techniques that were not only expensive and time-consuming but also dangerous. What exactly did that entail? A daguerreA otype was a photograph on a metal plate, developed using toxic fumes. In salt printing, paper mixed with salt and silver was used, which slowly revealed an image in the sunlight. “In the beginning, photography was really something for scientists, artists, and printers. They experimented, presented their findings to academies, and tried to obtain patents.” It was not until 1850 that improvements emerged with new techniques such as the wet collodion plate, the ambrotype, and later the gelatin negative from 1871. Photography became faster and more mobile, making images possible that were previously unthinkable.

Stamps (from left to right and from top to bottom):

• Louis Ghémar, Nadar’s hot air balloon “Le Géant” shortly before take-off at the Botanical Garden in Brussels, 1864, albumen print, Collection Yper Museum SM 001627.
• Alexandre (Alexandre Edouard Drains), “Iguanodon de Bernissart” (excavated in 1878), ca. 1883, albumen print, FOMU Collection P/1984/0209.

• Brand Frères, Passenger car (1st class) railway, ca. 1865, albumendruk, Collection FOMU P/1997/0096/0002.
• Louis-Pierre-Théofile Dubois de Nehaut, Another Impossible Task, 1854-1856, salt print, Collectie Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Fernand Khnopff, Portrait of Marguerite Khnopff, ca. 1890, daylight gelatin silver print, FOMU Collection P/1980/249/0001.

Vel Page from an old photo album, with two additional old photos:

• François Smeesters, Man posing in a vehicle for people with reduced mobility, 1888-1890, albumen print, FOMU Collection 2023/0033/0001.
• Ghémar Frères, Self-portrait Louis Ghémar, 1866, albumen print, Collection FOMU 2022/0130.

  Source: bpost.be  

Analysis of issuance

Bpost has a beautiful edition in which not only the theme of 'photography' takes center stage, but also ballooning, dinosaurs, railways, and elephants.

 

<strong> More info: </strong>

Expo in FOMU Antwerp – Early Gaze, until March 1, 2026: https://fomu.be/expos/early-gaze-ongeziene-fotografie-uit-de-19e-eeuw