Le Baiser du Trottoir
Date1950
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 12 × 16 inches (30.5 × 40.6 cm)
Portfolio/Series"Robert Dosineau" portfolio
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Oxnard, Jr.
Object number2004.13.1.2
Copyright© Estate of Robert Doisneau, courtesy of Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextFamed for his impulsive, quirky images of street life in Paris, Robert Doisneau was one of France’s most popular and prolific photographers. Originally trained as a lithographer, Doisneau taught himself the art of photography in 1929. By 1934 he was employed as an industrial and advertising photographer for Renault, the automobile manufacturer. During World War II he worked for the French Resistance, documenting the occupation and liberation of Paris. Starting in the late 1940s, he served a stint as a fashion photographer for Vogue before returning to freelance photojournalism in the early 1950s. His work was published in Life and other leading international magazines.
Born in Gentilly near Paris, Doisneau earned a reputation for his compelling street photography documenting life in Paris and the surrounding suburbs. Known for playful and often ironic photographs featuring amusing juxtapositions and intermingling social classes, Doisneau once wrote: “The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” Some of Doisneau’s photographs, such as Le Baiser du Troittoir (The Kiss on the Sidewalk), have become iconic images of French life. During his lifetime, Doisneau’s photography was included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and other major institutions.
Describing the many images he produced over the course of his lifetime, Doisneau poetically wrote: “A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there—even if you put them end to end they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds snatched from eternity.”
