This imposing 540-page book of 450 photographs celebrates the career of Robert Doisneau, one of the best representatives of the trend of “humanist photography” popular in the 1950s. It features Doisneau’s famous photographs alongside lesser known and even unknown ones, delightfully capturing, “the ordinary gestures of ordinary people in ordinary situations.
Organized chronologically, the book, divided into five chapters, highlights the consistency of the photographer’s work by placing it into the context of his era and by letting him speak, both in the texts and in the numerous citations that appear throughout the work. This creates an ongoing dialogue between the reader and the photographer himself, putting into words the sensitivity, sense of humor and warmth that characterizes his photos.
This dialogue, combining humor with more serious reflections, takes us into the world of the photographer and transports us, through the streets and suburbs, everywhere where Doisneau, “took pleasure in shedding light on society’s rejects.” More fisherman than predator, Doisneau pieced together from the tarmac a bouquet of human moments, encounters that he magically transformed into exceptional moments.
BOOK
Robert Doisneau
Editions Taschen
By Jean Claude Gautrand
25 x 34 cm
540 pages
€ 49,99
http://www.taschen.com
http://www.robert-doisneau.com
