Historical Photographer Presentation - Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau (April 14, 1912 – April 1, 1994) was a French photographer who used a Leica on the streets of Paris in the 1930s; together with Henri Cartier-Bresson he was a pioneer of photojournalism. He is renowned for his 1950 image Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville), a photo of a couple kissing in the busy streets of Paris.

Doisneau's father, a plumber, died on active service in WWI when Robert was about four. His mother died when he was seven so he was then raised by an unloving aunt.

At thirteen he enrolled at a craft school where he graduated in 1929 with diplomas in engraving and lithography. Here he had his first contact with the arts, taking classes in figure drawing and still life.

When he was 16 he took up amateur photography but was reportedly so shy that he started by photographing cobble-stones before progressing to children and then adults.

At the end of the 1920s Doisneau found work as a lettering artist in the advertising industry at Atelier Ullmann Studio. Here he took an opportunity to change career by also acting as camera assistant in the studio and then becoming a staff photographer.

Robert Doisneau was known for his modest, playful, and ironic images of amusing juxtapositions, mingling social classes, and eccentrics in contemporary Paris streets and cafes. Influenced by the work of Andre Kertesz, Eugene Atget, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

He is known for his photographs of childrens' street culture. His work treats their play with seriousness and respect. In his honour, and owing to this, there are several Ecole Primaire (Primary Schools) named after him.

Robert Doisneau is one of France's best known photographers, for his street photography and the many playful images in everyday French life. His photographs over the course of several decades provide people with a great record of French life. He has published over twenty books with realistic and charming pictures of personal moments in the lives of individuals.

n 1950 he created his most recognizable work for Life - Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville ), a photo of a couple kissing in the busy streets of Paris, which became an internationally recognised symbol of young love in Paris.

In 1936 Doisneau married Pierrette Chaumaison whom he had met in 1934 when she was cycling through a village where he was on holiday. They had two daughters, Annette (b.1942) and Francine (b.1947). Annette worked as his assistant from 1979 until his death.

Pierrette died in 1993 suffering from Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Doisneau died six months later, having had a triple heart bypass and suffering from acute pancreatitis.

Doisneau was in many ways a shy and humble man, like his photography, still delivering his own work at the height of his fame. He chastised Francine for charging an 'indecent' daily fee of £2,000 for his work on a beer advertising campaign - he wanted only the rate of an "artisan photographer".