Lumière, Louis

(October 5, 1864, Besançon, Doubs, France - June 6, 1948, Bandol, Var, France)

   The son of a former sign painter turned photogra­pher, he saved the family firm conceiving a photo­graphic plate",Etiquette bleue", which brought in a lot of money. In February 1895, his brother Auguste (1862-1954) and he patented the "Cinématographe." The first public projection of films less than one minute long took place in the Indian Lounge of the Grand Café on December 28, 1895. The Cinématog­raphe was an immediate success, and the Lumière brothers produced 2, I13 movies, mostly documentary reports photographed by cameramen all over the world. According the catalog that he offered to film historian Georges Sadoul, Louis Lumière himself filmed only seventeen shorts. In 1948, the creator of the Cinématographe told Sadoul that he had shot about fifty pictures (mostly before 1896). Convinced that his invention had no future, he gave up film­making in 1900 and stopped production in 1905. Parallel with his cinematographic activities, he pat­ented several inventions (the "Photorama", a circular photographic plate in 1900, and autochrome plates in 1903). Until his retirement in 1920, he dedicated his time to his photographic equipment factory, the famous Usines Lumière, immortalized by one his first movies (La Sortie des Usines Lumière).

 Filmography

1895 ◘ La Sortie des Usines Lumière / La Sortie des Ouvriers des Usines Lumière / UK: Leaving the Lumière Factory / USA: Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory / Exiting the Factory (short)

        ◘ L'Arroseur arrosé / Le Jardinier et le petit Espiègle / UK: The Sprayer Sprayed / USA: The Sprinkler Sprinkled / The Tables Turned on the Gardener / The Waterer Watered (short)

        ◘ Les Assiettes tournantes (short)

        ◘ Les Ateliers de la Ciotat (short)

        ◘ Baignade en Mer (short)

        ◘ Barque sortant du Port / La Sortie du Port / UK and USA: Boat Leaving the Port (short)

        ◘ Bocal aux poissons rouges (short)

        ◘ Chapeaux à Transformations / USA: Hats with Transformations / Transformation by Hats / Trans­formation by Hats, Comic View (short)

        ◘ La Charcuterie mécanique / USA: The Mechani­cal Butcher (short)

        ◘ Course en Sac (short)

        ◘ Le Déjeuner du Chat (short)

        ◘ Départ en Voiture (short)

        ◘ Discussion de Monsieur Janssen et de Monsieur Lagrange (short)

        ◘ Enfants aux Jouets / USA: Children at Play (short)

        ◘ Les Forgerons / USA: The Blacksmiths (short)

        ◘ Fancement d'un Navire à la Ciotat (short)

        ◘ Lyon, Place Bellecour (short)

        ◘ Le Maréchal-Ferrant (short)

        ◘ La Mer / USA: The Sea (short)

        ◘ Partie de Boules (short)

        ◘ Partie de Cartes / UK: Card Game / USA: The Messers. Lumière at Cards (short)

        ◘ Partie de Tric-Trac (short)

        ◘ La Pêche aux Poissons rouges (short)

        ◘ Photographe (short)

        ◘ La Place des Cordeliers à Lyon / USA: Cordeliers' Square in Lyon (short)

        ◘ Promenade des Congressistes sur le Bord de

        ◘ Saône (short)

        ◘ Querelle enfantine (short)

        ◘ Récréation à la Martinière (short)

        ◘ Repas de Bébé / Le Goûter de Bébé / UK: Baby's Meal / USA: Baby's Dinner / Feeding the Baby (short)

        ◘ Le Saut à la Couverture / Brimade dans une Caserne (short)

        ◘ La Voltige (short)

1896 ◘ Arrivée d'un Train à la Ciotat / L'Arrivée d'un Train en Gare de la Ciotat / UK: The Arrival of the Mail Train / USA: Arrival of a Train at la Ciotat (short)

        ◘ Les Bains de Diane à Milan (short)

        ◘ Champs-Elysées (short)

        ◘ Cologne: Sortie de la Cathédrale (short)

        ◘ Démolition d'un Mur / USA: Demolition of a Wall (short)

        ◘ Entrée du Cinématographe (short)

        ◘ Genève (Exposition 1896): Rentrée à l'Etable (short)

        ◘ Mauvaises Herbes (short)

        ◘ Melbourne (short)

        ◘ Font de la Tour (short)

        ◘ Le Tsar Nicolas II à Paris (short)

1897 ◘ Arrivée d'un Bateau en Mer (short)

        ◘ Baignade en Mer (short)

        ◘ Bal d'Enfants (short)

        ◘ Concours de Boules (short)

        ◘ Départ de Jérusalem en Chemin de Fer / UK and USA: Leaving Jerusalem by Railway (short)

        ◘ Douche après le Bain / UK and USA: Shower

        ◘ After the Bath (short)

        ◘ Embarquement pour la Promenade (short)

        ◘ Enfant et Chien (short)

        ◘ Enfant au Bord de Mer / USA: The Children's Seaside Frolic (short)

        ◘ Jean qui pleure et Jean qui rit (short)

        ◘ Faveuses (short)

        ◘ Feçon de Bicyclette (short)

        ◘ Marché (short)

        ◘ Menuisiers (short)

        ◘ Petit Frère et petite Sœur (short)

        ◘ Place de l'Opéra / UK and USA: Traffic in Front of the Opera House in Paris (short)

        ◘ Premiers Pas de Bébé (short)

        ◘ Radeau avec Baigneurs (short)

        ◘ Le Rémouleur et l'Assiette au noir (short)

        ◘ Repas en Famille (short)

        ◘ Retour d'une Promenade en Mer (short)

        ◘ Ronde enfantine (short)

        ◘ Scènes d'Enfants (short)

        ◘ Touristes revenant d'une Excursion (short)

1898 ◘ Lourdes (short)

        ◘ Peinture à l'Envers (short)

        ◘ Un Lourd Chargement (short)

        ◘ La Vie et la Passion de Jésus-Christ (short)

1900 ◘ Le Chalet du Cycle (short)

        ◘ Danses espagnoles (short)

        ◘ Inauguration de l'Exposition universelle (short)

        ◘ Pont d'Iéna (short)

        ◘ La Tour Eiffel (short)

1901 ◘ Le Ring (short)