Founded in 1966, by photographers, for photographers, this new agency was to become a world leader within a few months. “Six new photographers, six new views of the world,” was Gamma’s slogan. From its creation, Gamma knew to develop and highlight photojournalism to be informative, to anticipate the news by bringing a personal view to the events. 300,000 black and white contact sheets and 200,000 color selections produced by 5,000 photographers were made over five decades. A real journalistic richness of which this book is the quintessence. It presents the work of those who really created, constructed, and developed the agency, a company often copied but never matched.
All of Gamma’s major photos are in this book. Just like the major photographers who contributed to its history. Today, The Eye of Photography is publishing a selection of Jean-Claude Francolon’s best photographs. Jean-Claude Francolon left Apis for Gamma in 1973. He then covered many conflicts: the Yom Kippur War, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, Cambodia and Vietnam, where he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel. Becoming a shareholder in 1978, he traveled the world before joining the editorial office of the agency in 1990 and then taking the presidency from 1992 to 1997. He is now an independent photographer.
Floris de Bonneville
Gamma, Une histoire de photographes
Published by La Martinière
59 euros
