First of all: thanks to Francine Deroudille. We owe her this day of tribute to her father, Robert Doisneau.
It is her choice that we are publishing today, this surprising look at a body of work with aspects that are still little known.
I was fortunate to know Robert Doisneau and to share a few lunches with him.
Each time, it was magical, one in particular in the early 1980s.
That morning, I woke up, for obscure reasons that have since been forgotten, feeling sinister and unhappy.
At one point, I even considered canceling lunch, but you don’t cancel Doisneau.
We both arrived at the same time at Mario’s, our cafeteria at the time. I had butterflies in my stomach, anxious about appearing stupid and boring.
“Naudet, something incredible just happened to me,” he began, barely sitting down. “This morning I had a medical exam at the hospital. I was laid on a bed and surrounded by wires and tubes. After 10 minutes, the professor arrived accompanied by about ten interns. He glanced at me, then looked at the equipment for a long time and signaled to his team.
They went into an adjoining room. For 5 minutes, I didn’t understand a word of their hubbub.
When silence fell, I heard the professor say: Yes, we have to do something, this situation is not possible.”
At the time, Doisneau’s wife wasn’t doing very well, and he was particularly concerned about the future of his two daughters.
Doisneau continued: “I started to get up in a panic and pull out a few wires. The professor came back into the room, understood my excitement, burst out laughing, and said to me, ‘Mr. Doisneau, I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about the machine.'”
That day, we cried with laughter.
Jean-Jacques Naudet
- On April 17, the Musée Maillol opens a landmark exhibition, “Robert Doisneau – Instants données.”
Combining Tempora and the Atelier Robert Doisneau, this monographic and retrospective exhibition is the first in Paris in over 10 years.
Co-curators Benoit Remiche, Isabelle Benoit, Francine Deroudille, and Annette Doisneau offer an in-depth reinterpretation of Robert Doisneau’s work.
Seeking to uncover the photographer’s “spirit,” his personal philosophy, his essential connections, and a working style in constant tension between the seriousness of the commission and the most assertive fantasy, this major journey is an important date in the presentation of a body of work that is unanimously celebrated. But so often simplified.
- In March, Galerie Joseph, 78 rue de Turenne, celebrated the addition of Robert Doisneau to the PODA collection, now available online https://www.poda-photo.com/collections/podacollection
- On May 15, Galerie Claude Bernard, 7/9 rue des Beaux-Arts, will present some forty collector’s prints signed by Robert Doisneau.
- From June 1st to October 5th, 2025, at the La Gacilly Festival, “We will go to see the sea with Robert Doisneau”…
- From June 6th to September 25th, the “Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau” will present “Un certain Robert Doisneau”
- From July 5th to September 31st, 2025, “Les Grandes Vacances” will take up its summer quarters at the Saint Etienne Church in Beaugency
- From October 23rd, the 80 prints from “A l’imparfait de l’Objectif” will be exhibited at the Château des Ducs de Bourbons in Montluçon.
Atelier Robert Doisneau
46 place Jules Ferry
92120 Montrouge
https://www.robert-doisneau.com/en
