This thesis concerns the interaction of a sharp nanotip with an ultrashort laser pulse for the observation of emission of photoelectrons. An electron can be emitted from a sharp nanotip system by many different mechanisms. Each mechanism gives a unique signature that can be identified by the photoelectron energy spectrum. We developed a new experiment to observe and identify these emission mechanisms. This consists of a flexible laser system (including the development of a high repetition rate, variable repetition rate noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA)), ultra high vacuum chamber, electron detector (electron spectrometer with 2D resolution), nanopositioning of a sharp nanotip in the focus of the laser, and fabrication of these nanotip samples in a variety of materials (in collaboration with CEMES (Toulouse) and GPM (Rouen)). We observed the emission of photoelectrons from various nanotips based on different materials: tungsten, silver, and a new type of carbon-based nanotip formed around a single carbon nanotube. We confirm the observation of above threshold photoemission (ATP) peaks from a tungsten nanotip. We detected the first laser induced electron emission from a carbon cone based on a single carbon nanotube. We observed a plateau in the electron spectra from a silver nanotip, the signature of electron recollision and rescattering in the tip. Various studies were performed in function of the voltage applied, repetition rate of the laser, laser polarization, energy and wavelength of the laser in order to understand these phenomena. From spectral features we were able to extract information about the system such as the enhancement factor of the laser electric field near the nanotip and the probability of above threshold photon absorption. Comparisons of the various spectra observed allowed us to spectrally identify the mechanisms for photoemission for tip based systems.