Initially trained as a painter, Édouard-Denis Baldus turned to photography in the late 1840s and quickly gained recognition. In 1851 the French government selected him as one of five photographers to document the nation’s architectural heritage, a survey known as the Missions Héliographiques. The images Baldus produced for the project exhibited such technical prowess that he won support for another project, Les villes de France photographiées, designed to revive interest in the nation’s Roman and medieval history. During the summer of 1854, Baldus traveled in the Auvergne region of central France, making pictures that emphasize the drama of the natural landscape, such as this river scene. Although the large-format waxed paper negatives he employed were never intended to be exhibited, they remain compelling objects that offer up a startling range of tones.