Martin's family moved to England from France and he was apprenticed as a wood-engraver. He was successful in this business and took up photography as a hobby. He had experimented with cyanotypes as a child. In 1892, he bought a 'detective' camera which he used to secretly photograph the area in which he lived. In 1896 he was recognised by the Royal Photographic Society and awarded a royal medal for his London by Gaslight photographs. Martin demonstrated his techniques to the Linked Ring Brotherhood as well as supplying the Eastman Kodak Company with his images. In 1899 he was asked by Kodak to join the company but declined the offer in order to take up a partnership with H. G. Dorrett to supply photography to the press. Martin lectured in photography but his company was never successful. In 1939 he published his autobiography 'Victorian Snapshots'.