Jules Itier

Jules Alphonse Eugène Itier was a French customs inspector and amateur daguerreotypist. Between 1842 and 1843 he traveled to Senegal, Guadeloupe and India, where he took a number of early daguerreotypes.
In December 1843, Itier was sent to accompany Marie Melchior Joseph [Théodore de Lagrené|Théodore de Lagrené] on his journey to China, where he had been dispatched by Louis Philippe to conclude a commercial treaty. In China, Itier documented the conclusion of the Treaty of Whampoa and took a number of daguerreotypes of Chinese people and scenery in the Guangdong region. Although the daguerreotype reportedly reached China in the later stages of the First [Opium War], Itier's daguerreotypes are the earliest preserved photographs of China. Upon his return to France, Itier wrote an extensive travelogue of his journey to China.