Robert Doisneau The Vogue Years

From high-society balls and fashion shoots to portraits of artists and scenes from urban life in France, this handsome volume—which features an open spine binding so that it lays flat to show off the photographs to their best advantage—showcases Doisneau’s best photographs for Vogue Paris. Celebrated photographer Robert Doisneau worked for Vogue from 1949 until 1965, illustrating a postwar France filled with a renewed zest for life. His little-known images of haute couture featured models like Brigitte Bardot and Bettina, who he photographed in the studio and out on the streets. He chronicled the members of the café society in their stately homes and at glamorous costume galas, dancing the night away. Best known for his humanist approach, he masterfully captured scenes from everyday life—from the grace of a wedding procession over a footbridge to the petulance of a child impatient for cake. Doisneau’s photographs captured the spirit of the era and featured celebrities like Karen Blixen, Picasso, Colette, and Jean Cocteau, as well as jazz musicians, movie stars, and humble craftsmen at work. Legendary Vogue editor in chief Edmonde Charles-Roux’s personal homage to the photographer—who was her friend and colleague—offers intimate insight into the man behind the camera, as complex and beautiful as the people and places he immortalized.

From high-society balls and fashion shoots to portraits of artists and scenes from urban life in France, this handsome volume—which features an open spine binding so that it lays flat to show off the photographs to their best advantage—showcases Doisneau’s best photographs for Vogue Paris. Celebrated photographer Robert Doisneau worked for Vogue from 1949 until 1965, illustrating a postwar France filled with a renewed zest for life. His little-known images of haute couture featured models like Brigitte Bardot and Bettina, who he photographed in the studio and out on the streets. He chronicled the members of the café society in their stately homes and at glamorous costume galas, dancing the night away. Best known for his humanist approach, he masterfully captured scenes from everyday life—from the grace of a wedding procession over a footbridge to the petulance of a child impatient for cake. Doisneau’s photographs captured the spirit of the era and featured celebrities like Karen Blixen, Picasso, Colette, and Jean Cocteau, as well as jazz musicians, movie stars, and humble craftsmen at work. Legendary Vogue editor in chief Edmonde Charles-Roux’s personal homage to the photographer—who was her friend and colleague—offers intimate insight into the man behind the camera, as complex and beautiful as the people and places he immortalized.

This seminal volume—produced in close collaboration with his estate—is the official, most comprehensive reference of Robert Doisneau’s photographs of Paris. Robert Doisneau infused images of daily life with poetic nuance. This unique portrait of Paris in 560 photographs is reissued in hardcover with red-tipped pages. This entrancing tour through the gardens of Paris, along the Seine, and among crowds of Parisians includes children scrambling to cross rue de Rivoli, fresh-faced accordionists, elegant dog walkers, brave resistance fighters, exuberant roller skaters, the indelible kiss in front of the Hôtel de Ville, and cyclists beneath the Eiffel Tower. The magic of Paris in black and white is timeless. Photographs curated by Doisneau’s daughters and complemented by Doisneau’s own commentary reveal his profound fascination with the city where he lived and worked.

A previously unpublished collection of Robert Doisneau’s color photography provides a unique opportunity to revisit the early years of one of America’s legendary holiday destinations. In 1960, Robert Doisneau was invited by Fortune magazine to cover Palm Springs, the hottest travel destination of the day. Renowned as a playground for the rich and famous, as well as for a silver-haired and well-heeled clientele, it was a world of swimming pools awash with bobbing beehives, martini-fueled parties, and relaxed games of golf, all unfolding against a desert backdrop. There, Doisneau took hundreds of photographs, twenty-three of which were published in the magazine. The rest have been rediscovered in his archives and one hundred are featured here for the first time. Doisneau is best known for his black and white portraits of Parisian street scenes. This rare color collection—which is supplemented with a facsimile reproduction of Doisneau’s original Fortune article—offers a new perspective on his photographic legacy. Accompanying these nostalgic images are extracts from the photographer’s personal correspondence—small masterpieces of derision and self-derision in which he describes being marooned in the "world capital of winter golf"—and an equally amusing introduction written by award-winning French novelist Jean-Paul Dubois.

Doisneau’s photographs evoke nostalgia for the days when the now vanished Les Halles market, "the belly of Paris," sprawled across the center of the city. From fur-clad socialites to burly market porters, Doisneau captured the essence of every brand of Parisian character and the poetry in ordinary scenes: a cheery fruit seller bellowing from behind a pyramid of oranges, a fish vendor haggling over the price of the daily catch, or a mountain of floral bouquets ready to grace Parisian dinner tables. This volume exhibits some of Doisneau’s lesser-known yet extraordinary works, including six rare color photographs. Publication coincides with the ongoing long-awaited redevelopment of this Parisian hub.

Previously unpublished photographs and iconic portraits of musicians from the 1950s through the 1980s offer a new perspective on Doisneau's remarkable talent. Master photographer Robert Doisneau's passion for the joyful energy inherent in the music world comes alive in images that cover the musical spectrum, from classical and jazz to be-bop to the roots of modern rap and alternative rock. With camera in hand, Doisneau crisscrossed Paris to capture intimate moments with star musicians such as Eartha Kitt in a jazz club, Django Reinhardt at home, and Yehudi Menuhin backstage, or with locals at a neighborhood dance or jamming in a brass band. His portraits were commissioned for stars from Juliette Gréco to Charles Aznavour to Claude François, and a new generation of musicians in the 1980s including Rita Mitsouko and Les Négresses Vertes. This book--curated by the photographer's granddaughter to accompany an exhibition at the Philharmonie de Paris--includes more than one hundred photographs, many previously unpublished, that showcase the artist's mastery in editing, special effects, photomontage, collage, photo distortions, and splits.

During the golden age when Montparnasse was teeming with artists, Robert Doisneau gained remarkable access to the artists working in Paris from 1937 onwards, and he visited their studios and caught them in various private moments: working, reflecting, and even playing with their children. This book, which includes some previously unpublished photographs, shares Doisneau's intimate view on the work and lives of these artists. Many remain famous--Picasso, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Giacometti, Saul Steinberg, Marcel Duchamp, Le Corbusier, Foujita--while others have fallen into obscurity, perhaps one day to be rediscovered. Regardless of the artist's social status--whether major figure of the day or struggling newcomer--Doisneau approached each subject with the same humble eye. His signature black-and-white photographs capture the nostalgia of the period and bear witness to these artists in the act of creating some of the world's finest art. This book, published in cooperation with Doisneau's daughters, is a fascinating document of the daily lives of artists by one of the world's most famous and popular photographers.

The original French-language edition of this book was published on the occasion of the exhibition: Robert Doisneau, From craft to art at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson from January 13th to April 18th 2010.