b. 1802, d. 1877
Daguerreotypist
French

Born in Paris and schooled in France, Alphonse-Eugène-Jules Itier began his professional life working in the Customs Service. He became active in scientific circles in the 1830s and 40s and thus learned about the invention of the daguerreotype early on.

From 1842 to 1843, Itier traveled to Senegal and Guiana in Africa and Guadaloupe in the West Indies. He carried daguerreotype equipment, presumably making photographs there. Appointed chief of a commercial mission to China from 1843 to 1846, he also traveled to the East Indies and the Pacific Islands, where he again made daguerreotypes during his leisure time. Returning by way of Borneo, Manila, and Egypt, he settled in France, retiring from the Custom Service in 1857. There Itier continued to photograph until his death at age seventy-five.