The Fondation Jan Michalski presents an exhibition by Yves Debraine entitled Portraits d’écrivain.es (Portraits of Writers).
A correspondent in Switzerland for numerous European and American newspapers and magazines, photographer and reporter Yves Debraine (Paris, 1925 – Lausanne, 2011) crossed paths with a myriad of figures from the worlds of sports, science, culture, and art throughout his career.
In his illustrious photographic archive, writers hold a privileged place. They are captured in black and white, in posed or candid shots, in their favorite landscapes or in their writing spaces. It is thus, captured at the heart of their literary material, that poets, novelists, and philosophers reveal themselves in the book *From Cocteau to Simenon: Portraits of Writers*, edited by his son Luc Debraine and published by Éditions Noir sur Blanc. Echoing this tribute to the photographer, the Jan Michalski Foundation presents a selection of his images on the library’s upper floors, inviting visitors to encounter Ella Maillart, Jean Giono, Vladimir Nabokov, Georges Simenon, Patricia Highsmith, Jean Cocteau, Jacques Chessex, and Marcel Pagnol. Yves Debraine, photographer, journalist, and reporter, was born in Paris in 1925. Trained at Agence France-Presse, he settled in Switzerland in 1948, where he worked for various national and international publications. He also founded and directed the monthly magazine Aînés, now called Générations. Specializing in black and white portraits, he immortalized numerous personalities and notably became Charlie Chaplin’s official photographer for over twenty years, as well as that of Georges Simenon and the Piccard family of scientists and adventurers. He died in Lausanne in 2011.
Yves Debraine : Portraits d’écrivain.es.
Until January 18, 2026
Bibliothèque de Fondation Jan Michalski
En Bois Désert 10
CH-1147 Montricher
www.fondation-janmichalski.com
https://www.leseditionsnoirsurblanc.fr/catalogue/de-cocteau-a-simenon/
