Robert Doisneau

For my first culture blog post, I am writing about Robert Doisneau. He was in the photography arts, not the traditional paint and paintbrush kind of stuff. In other words, he was French a photographer, known for his work in photojournalism. He was born in Gentilly, France.

When Robert Diosneau was 16, he took up photography as an amateur. By the start of the 1930's, he was working as a camera assistant and a staff photographer at the Atelier Ullmann (Ullmann Studio). After a year, he left the studio to be the assistant to the modernist photographer André Vigneau. His best job or the job that really got him started as a street photographer was him working at the Rapho photo agency in 1939. There he travelled all around Paris taking pictures of Paris' streets.rance. He began serious photography in 1930 and sold his first photo-story in 1932 to the Excelsior newspaper.

Robert Doisneau was known for his artistic vision of the streets and cafes of Paris. He was a street photographer. He said, “The marvels of daily life are so exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” He was like the photographer of life. He took pictures of daily living in Paris.

Kiss by the Hotel de Ville.

This is probably his most famous picture. It became a symbol of young love in Paris.

Robert Doisneau won many awards including the Kodak Prize in 1947, the Niépce Prize in 1956, the Grand Prix National de la Photogragraphie in 1983, and the Balzac Prize in 1986.

What about your subject is particularly “French”?

What about it isn’t French, is more like it. He was a French photographer, born in France, and he took pictures of French life. I don’t know what else to say besides that? He was even in the French Resistance. I don’t know how you can get more French than that? He was a FRENCH photographer. He even married a French girl, Pierrette Chaumaison and had two French children, Annette and Francine. He lived in Paris his whole life. His photographs are of the French way of life, not America, not French. His pictures show the French lifestyle. I find the lifestyle of the French is very subtle. So instance, they are very quiet then they eat dinner. They are never loud or outspoken. I think his photos capture not only the uniqueness of life, but also the subtleness. Much like clothes, his photos can be loud, but subtle, and unique, but familiar. We all can relate to his pictures.

What are the major themes that your subject addresses?

I believe that Robert Doisneau captured the simplicity and happiness of life in his pictures. I think that everyone can relate to what’s in his photographs. Everyone has seen people kiss in public before. Everyone has seen dogs and their masters walking down the street. Everyone has seen people marvel at things they find extraordinary. I also think that his pictures capture the essence of life. Every photograph of his is different and everyday is different from the last. You can't predict what will happen in your life. You can't control what will happen either. The only thing that is predictable about life, is its unpredictability. Life is unpredictable and so are his photos.