Documentary Work
Wether commission or in his personal work, Major Tournassoud liked to explore his subjects in depth. It was thus usual for him to work in a "series" on a certain subject which very often were published as tourist booklets or folders (for example: the city of Bourg en Bresse, the department of Ain etc.) or in albums of postcards (for example the Hospital of Belleville-sur-Sâone).
The company "Union Electric" commissioned him to produce in the Ain and the Jura regions a series of industrial photographs, an assignment which he carried out in a very personal manner; rather than the standard photographs of industrial works and constructions, he preferred to seize up the men at work, in the factories or in the open air. In time, these documents became invaluable for historians. Ultimately, Tournassoud produced several hundred photographic plates about the dams, electricity and its contribution to the poultry breeding, mechanization, and to everyday life. (Le Hameau Electrique de Mézériat. Brussels, 1939).
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