Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau – Portraits of dissidents and celebrities

Robert Doisneau was born in Gentilly on 14 April 1912. He acquired a diploma in engraving and lithography in 1928 from the École Estienne in Paris, and began working as a photographer one year later. His first pictures were published shortly after, in 1932. He worked as factory photographer for the French automobile manufacturer Renault from 1934 to 1939, then as a freelance photographer, before serving in the army for one year. He joined the Resistance as a photographer during the occupation and produced numerous pictorial documents on the occupation and liberation of France. During the war, Doisneau came into contact with Charles Rado who contracted him to his agency Rapho and finally brought him to photojournalism. Doisneau went on to photograph for Vogue, Life, Paris Match and further illustrated magazines, and produced portraits of famous celebrities of his time, including Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso and Orson Welles.

Magic and tristesse of Parisian everyday life

Robert Doisneau created a profile as a sharp-eyed observer of everyday life in post-war Paris. In doing so, it was the small, otherwise unnoticed moments, the accordion player on the street corner, loitering children, the ‘small people’ in the bistro. He himself created some of these moments: His famous picture La Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville Paris, showing a couple kissing on the lively streets of Paris, is not a snapshot taken quickly at random, but a photo of two drama students posing for Life magazine. Despite this, it would become the most well-known and widespread photograph in the world – because it showed Paris how the world saw the city, and how Paris saw itself. Many of Doisneau’s pictures did not show idealised scenes, but quite socially critical images of the unadorned tristesse of the difficult post-war years. His portrait of the prostitute Mademoiselle Anita also became famous, showing her waiting in a café for business, her heavy make-up barely concealing her agonizing tiredness. 

Robert Doisneau favoured black and white photography

Robert Doisneau once explained that he only showed people what they could see for themselves if they stopped rushing around. That was the reason for his success. A success that was also reflected financially: Photographs by Doisneau reach five-figure sums on the art market. The actress Sabine Azéma, a close friend of the photographer, dedicated a documentary short film to him called Bonjour Monsieur Diosneau ou Le photographearrosé. He liked best to photograph with his reliable Rolleiflex in black and white, and felt noticeably uncomfortable in his attempts at colour photography – a fate he shared with many great photographers of the post-war period. 

Robert Doisneau died in Paris on 1 April 1994.