Aimé Dupont

Aimé Dupont (6 December 1839 – 16 February 1900) was a Belgian-born American sculptor and photographer who was best known for his pictures of opera singers when he was the official photographer for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

Early life Dupont was born in Ypres, Belgium, the son of one of the city's leading photographers. He was educated at the School of Mines in Liège, where he learned how to quarry and polish stone for sculptures, as well as the technical process for creating photographic toning agents from minerals. After graduation, he moved to Paris, France, to work at Maison Walery as a photograph technician, but he sculpted in his free time. In the early 1870s, he decided to start his own photography and sculpting business on the Champs-Élysées.

He won some acclaim for both his arts, including a gold medal for photography in the Paris Exhibition of 1878. As a sculptor, he later was made a chevalier of the Legion d'honneur.

Emigration to the United States As a result of the Panic of 1884, many of his sculpting clients were bankrupted and Dupont found he could no longer sustain his business. Under the advice of his wife, the couple moved to New York City, where they established a photography studio in Harlem, with Etta handling the finances so that Dupont could focus on the art. The new studio also included space for sculpting, but it was the photography that was far more lucrative. He was also skilled in the use of natural light and outfitted his studio with screens and reflectors to maximize the effect of sunlight. Dupont died of his condition on 16 February 1900. Afterwards, Etta became the photographer for the business (and in later years, their son Albert also took his turn behind the camera), keeping the name Aimé Dupont Studio. For many years, a number of the photographic subjects were under the belief that she was Aimé Dupont. She sold the business to an investor, and the name Aimé Dupont Studio continued as a portrait studio until the 1950s.

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