Septème 1871 – Casablanca 1936
The figure of Gabriel Veyre is important in the Moroccan photographic landscape. He is one of the expressions of the links between the photographic practice of the other, from abroad, and the handling of the photographic tool by Moroccans.
" In 1896, less than a year after the invention of cinema, the life of Gabriel Veyre, young lyonnais student in pharmacy, rocker. Became operator of the Enlightenment Brothers, he will travel the planet, a cinematograph on the shoulder. Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Canada, Japan, China, Indochine (…) ».
For four years, he educated his gaze and filmed on the medium of the first films ; he also projected, introducing this new support and tool in many cities. In 1901, he leaves Marseille and embarks for Morocco. From the meeting Gabriel Veyre and the sultan, great respect and mutual friendship will arise. He taught the practice of photography to the young Sultan Moulay Abd El Aziz in 1901.
The laboratory is located in the amusement yard, the Frenchman will be astonished at the means at his disposal. This place with joyful tones is the only space in the palace frequented by Westerners. Place of theater and fireworks, the sultan "exchanges volleys in tennis, kicks the round ball, indulges in different gymnastic figures, wields the saber and learns fencing, and one day, finally, get on his first bicycle. » (Jacquier, Pranal, Abdelouahab, 2005 : 12)
Then thirty years old, the French photographer will become the main animator of the palace. He introduced the discoveries through the game of many technological novelties of all kinds. So, the amusement court welcomed electricity, the lighting, a chemical laboratory…. Gabriel Veyre installed the first telephone line in Marrakech, he was a pioneer in the radio field, and was also the first to travel through Morocco by automobile! He created different businesses through these new technologies. He founded the Automobile Club du Maroc, developed many factories, got into breeding. By its place and its status, he had the opportunity to photograph the bustling life of the court, relatives of the sultan, private apartments, le harem, scenes from everyday life. The Sultan himself became a photographer keen on techniques and made many photographs ; he is described as insatiable. Gabriel Veyre decided to settle permanently in Morocco after the tragic and brutal death of his beloved in 1902.
Witness to the attempts and stammering of the Lumière Brothers on the subject of color photography, he was the first to use and promote the autochrome. He was one of the first to use it in Morocco in 1908, and signed the first color photographs to appear in the press. Moulay Abd el-Aziz immediately wanted to inquire about this new process ; once the technique is learned, he spent long hours locked in his harem photographing his wives, his favorite subject.
In 1905, the photographer published the book "In the privacy of the Sultan". In the same momentum, Gabriel Veyre is a correspondent for the Journal L’illustration, the editorial staff will commission a color report on the French presence. This exercise will allow him to be put in touch with General Lyautey and his staff. In 1934, after spending more than 30 years old in Morocco and be sixty three years old, he embarked on a photographic excursion and traveled the Moroccan roads for a year. He will take hundreds of color photographs.
“Gabriel Veyre was a modest and silent photographer, and if he has not made a career in this field, it was probably that the very idea of a career was foreign to him. Freedom guided his life like his photographic work His taste led him to refined compositions to which the subtlety of the colors of the autochrome responded wonderfully. » (Jacquier, Pranal, Abdelouahab, 2005: 51) He died shortly after, At Casablanca.
Bibliography:
1905: publication of: “In the privacy of the sultan”
2005: Philippe Jacquier, Marion pranal, Farid Abdelouahab: “The Morocco of Gabriel Veyre”, Kubik editions