The photography collection of the Musee D'Orsay comprises some 45,000 pieces of work, dated from 1839 to 1918. Although French photography is prevalent, work from abroad is extremely well represented through masterpieces from England and the United States.

The authors present a historical record of the collections, and then go on to discuss the primitif approach in the 1850s and 60s, and English and American photography pre-1880. They then look at the revolution in techniques which took place in the 1880s, which made photography more accessible to all kinds of amateurs, writers, painters or sculptors. The last section concentrates on documentary photography which, until Atget and Man Ray's time, was greatly inspired by artistic photography.

This elaborately illustrated and thorough publication provides an entire history of photography, and reveals the enormous range of the Musee d'Orsay's photographic collections, including its most recent acquisitions.