The Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé is dedicating its exhibition space until January 31, 2026, to photographs of Roger Corbeau (1908-1995), a remarkable photographer who is now largely forgotten.
Considered one of the most important film photographers of the 1930s to 1980s, Roger Corbeau began his career with Marcel Pagnol and contributed to the aesthetic universe of films such as Toni by Jean Renoir, De Mayerling à Sarajevo by Max Ophüls, Macadam by Marcel Blistène and Jacques Feyder, Le Journal d’un curé de campagne by Robert Bresson, Pattes blanches by Jean Grémillon, La Fête à Henriette by Julien Duvivier, Les Parents Terribles and Orphée by Jean Cocteau, Gervaise by René Clément, Les Sorcières de Salem by Raymond Rouleau, Les Misérables by Jean-Paul Le Chanois, La Loi by Jules Dassin, as well as Mr. Arkadin and The Trial by Orson Welles and Violette Nozière by Claude Chabrol. Nearly 150 films in a 50-year career!
Fascinated by cinema and actors since his adolescence, Roger Corbeau collected photographs, books, and magazines, which never ceased to inspire him.
A master of black and white, he established himself as a great portraitist, then mastered color with impeccable taste. His singular, instantly recognizable style, featuring strong contrasts and charcoal effects, enhanced and immortalized Arletty, Brigitte Bardot, Faye Dunaway, Fernandel, Jodie Foster, Louis de Funès, Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot, Isabelle Huppert, Louis Jouvet, Sophia Loren, as well as Jean Marais, Mélina Mercouri, Raimu, Simone Signoret, and Michel Simon.
Created from the Roger Corbeau collection and its collections, the Fondation Pathé exhibition pays tribute to an illustrious photographer whose work is worth rediscovering.
Roger Corbeau : L’œil de Corbeau
From October 9, 2025 to January 31, 2026
Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé
73 avenue des Gobelins, 75013 Paris
http://www.fondation-jeromeseydoux-pathe.com/
