Nadar, The Photographer's Wife, 1853.

Nadar, The Photographer's Wife, 1853.

Nadar is significant to the history of photography for a couple of reasons.  He started out drawing caricatures of well known political and cultural figures which "instantly made him a celebrity".  He was the first in france to photograph under ground and use artificial light, and the first to photograph Paris in the basket of a hot air balloon.  He did several other things to make himself well known, these are just a few to mention along the lines of photography.  

The photograph is amazing I think.  The woman is wearing mostly black and a little white, with a black background.  The contrast in the picture, and where the white is placed in her jacket makes her stand out nicely in a black background.  The angle to the her face is straight on and the rest of her body is angled back, and she is right in the middle of the photo, but I think this all works for the picture because it gives it a since of seriousness, but it's almost like she is talking to you saying "hi, nice to meat you!" The angle of her body and the picture makes it seam like a sweet introduction.