Le Gray's seascapes, photographed on the Mediterranean coast, brought him international acclaim and recognition almost from the moment that they were created. Le Gray achieved the works' dramatic visual effects through an innovative process of printing two negatives—one for the sea, the other for the sky, each exposed separately—on a single sheet. His photographs were thus composed, not unlike a painting, their reality mitigated through his subsequent intervention in the studio.

Whether or not Courbet met Le Gray—both men were in Sète in 1857, possibly at the same time—he quite likely knew his works, as certain paintings, including his Waves , directly evoke Le Gray's precedent.