Émile Gsell

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Émile Gsell (1838–1879) was a French photographer who worked in Southeast Asia and became the first professional photographer in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).

He was born on December 30, 1838 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, France. In 1866 he joined the Mekong Expedition, directed by Ernest Doudart de Lagrée, to photograph the ruins of Angkor. The expedition helped produce some of the earliest photographs of Angkor Wat. After the expedition, Gsell settled in Saigon as a commercial photographer, taking hundreds of pictures of architecture, landscapes, ethnography and portraits.

Gsell took part in at least three expeditions. In early 1867 he returned to Angkor with Louis Delaporte, and in 1873 he exhibited two albums at the Vienna International Exhibition—one of Angkor ruins and another of the Annamite and Cambodian populations—which earned him a medal for the quality of his Cambodian photographs. In April 1875 he joined a mission to Huế in central Vietnam, and from November 1876 to January 1877 he photographed Tonkin (northern Vietnam). His photographs were marketed in Saigon by Auguste Nicolier.

Gsell died in Saigon on October 16, 1879. After his death, photographer O. Wegener used his stock in the early 1880s, and it later passed to Vidal (Salin-Vidal), who marketed it under Vidal and Salin-Vidal until 1883.

His gallery includes images of Angkor Wat, temples, weddings, Saigon scenes and portraits such as Cambodian musicians, Khmer officials and Norodom I.

See also: Mekong Expedition of 1866–1868.