Agnès de Gouvion Saint-Cyr passed away Saturday in Orange at the age of eighty. A key figure in photography, she was known in the world of images as “Madame Photo.”
It was alongside Lucien Clergue, founder of the Rencontres d’Arles, that she began a career that she would pursue for almost forty years at the Ministry of Culture.
She made a significant contribution to the promotion, distribution, and institutional recognition of photography. We owe her the creation of a formidable collection at the FNAC, as well as numerous grants, commissions, and creative aids, the ideas of which she skillfully whispered into the ears of her ministers.
But while she was a high-flying administrator, working in the shadows with a constant concern for public service, she organized numerous exhibitions as a curator that helped raise awareness of French photography beyond our borders.
Unfailingly loyal, she was not only a support but also a friend to many.
With Agnès de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, a whole part of the memory of the golden age of photography in the final years of the 20th century is disappearing.
Jean-Luc Monterosso
