Gustave le Gray (1820-82) was among the first to claim that photographshould be thought of as artworks in themselves. Originally a painter, le Grayecame the first great teacher in the history of the photographic medium, histudents including Charles Negre and Maxime du Camp. His interest inxperimentation and high technical standards jeopardized his commercialuccess, however, and he ended his career in Cairo as a teacher of drawing.