Mlle Rousseau dans l'Africaine 1865

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri made this photograph of Mlle Rousseau in 1865 using the carte-de-visite format. Here, we see the emerging culture of celebrity mingling with the popular taste for exoticism in Second Empire France. Disdéri was a leading portrait photographer catering to a bourgeois clientele eager to possess images of famous personalities, especially opera singers and stage actors. This photograph depicts Mlle Rousseau in costume for Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "L'Africaine," which premiered in Paris that same year. The opera itself reflects the imperialist fantasies of the time, with its themes of exploration and conquest set against an exoticized vision of Africa and the Indian Ocean. Disdéri's photograph, with its serial presentation of the actress in various poses, caters to the voyeuristic desires of audiences while simultaneously reinforcing the racial and cultural stereotypes present in the opera. By examining archival material, such as theater programs, reviews, and audience accounts, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between art, entertainment, and social attitudes in 19th-century France. The meaning of this photograph becomes contingent on its cultural context.