Lucien Gauthier.

Lucien Gauthier (1875–1971) was a French photographer with a passion for French Polynesia. Born in Paris on September 12, 1875, he spent two years working in a bank in San Francisco before arriving in Tahiti in 1904 to take over the position left vacant by Mrs. Hoare. For seventeen years, he immortalized the idyllic landscapes, inhabitants, and surrounding islands (Bora Bora, the Marquesas, New Caledonia), creating numerous series of postcards and photo albums.

Settling in Papeete with a house-shop-studio, he developed his business as a landscape and portrait photographer, while also taking an interest in the mother-of-pearl and vanilla trade. He organized an exhibition of his work in Papeete in 1919 and published the album Tahiti in 1933, which inspired artists such as Matisse. An attentive reporter, he also captured major events on the island, such as the German bombing of Papeete in 1914.

Returning to mainland France in 1921, he continued to use his glass plates and pursued his photographic work until his death in 1971. Lucien Gauthier remains renowned for his remarkable panoramas, his ethnographic eye, and his ability to capture the life and landscapes of Polynesia with precision and poetry.

He is the author of Tahiti 1904-1921, published by Éditions du Pacifique.