May 02

Désiré Charnay was born near Lyon in 1828 and devoted his career to exploring and documenting ancient civilizations. He led expeditions to Mexico and Central America in the 1850s and 1860s, producing some of the earliest photographs of Maya ruins at sites such as Palenque and Uxmal. His photo albums, including Le Mexique ancien et moderne, combined archaeological observation with visual documentation, offering Europeans a vivid window into pre-Columbian cultures. Charnay also conducted geological surveys and studied indigenous art forms. His integration of photography into archaeological research set new standards for the field. He died in 1915, recognized as a pioneer of archaeological photography.