A black and white photograph of two women peering into a store window containing a painting of …

Images(15)

A black and white photograph of a couple kissing on a busy sidewalk by a cafe.

A black and white photograph of a man walking in the middle of a street toward newlyweds in fro…

A black and white photograph of a man sitting adjacent to a woman by two sherry glasses on the …

A black and white photograph of a man in a suit and top hat in a room of crates, large-scale he…

A black and white photograph of several men standing around a pool table.

A black and white photograph of two older women standing by a horizontally ribbed wall.

A black and white photograph of seated individuals with a blonde woman sitting on the floor at …

A black and white photograph of a man in a beret looking at a white cow's head on a hook.

A black and white photograph of a woman watering the flowers in the box outside her window. Ins…

A black and white photograph of a man in a one-pieced garment carrying a wine bottle and baguet…

A black and white photograph of three bronze nude female figures from a ground perspective with…

A black and white photograph of a man looking at a Victrola.

A black and white photograph of a small carousel in the rain.

A black and white photograph of a man and a woman sitting in a subway station.

Robert Doisneau portfolio

Artist Robert Doisneau (French, 1912 - 1994)

Date1944 - 1972 (negatives); 1979 (prints)

MediumPhotographs: gelatin silver prints; Portfolio: cardboard and fabric; Introductory Pages: paper

DimensionsImage: 12 × 16 inches (30.5 × 40.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Oxnard, Jr.

Object number2004.13.1.1-.16

On View

Not on view

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.”

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