Biography
Charles-Victor Hugo was the son of the poet Victor-Marie Hugo. Charles-Victor became an editor, and was jailed in 1851 for writing an article on the death penalty. When Louis-Napoleon seized power in 1851, Victor-Marie's republican beliefs drove him into exile, first to Brussels and then to the island of Jersey, where Charles-Victor joined him in voluntary exile.
In March 1853 Charles-Victor left Jersey for Caen and spent two weeks learning photography from a family friend. Together with the poet August Vacquerie, who followed Hugo into exile, he photographed family and friends. They intended to publish a volume that was to have included poetry and drawings by Victor-Marie, prose by Vacquerie, Charles-Victor, and his brother, François, and photographs by Charles-Victor, titled Jersey et les îles de la Manche. It was announced in La Lumière as a "great event for literature and photography" but never saw publication. Instead, the photographs were mounted in private albums and given to friends.