Eugène Cuvelier's interest in photography was encouraged by his father Adalbert, who devoted himself to the art after a successful career as an oil manufacturer. During his student years in Arras in the studio of Constant Dutilleux, Eugène was exposed to the techniques and aesthetic of plein-air painting. Both Eugène and Adalbert were members of the Société Française de Photographie, where Eugène exhibited landscape views of Barbizon and the environs of Arras.