© Robert Doisneau | The brothers, Paris. 1954
Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam Wilhelminakade 332 NL-3001 Rotterdam Pays-Bas
From 1 June to 1 September 2013 the Nederlands Fotomuseum presents a large retrospective of the renowned French photographer Robert Doisneau. Doisneau is one of the most influential reportage photographers on record, whose work has not been on view in this country since the eighties. The exhibition Robert Doisneau | Master Street Photographer contains 143 photographs and documents, including a number of photographic icons such as The Kiss at L'Hôtel de Ville of 1950, one of the most famous and favourite photos of the twentieth century.
© Robert Doisneau | The Kiss at L'Hôtel de Ville, Paris. 1950
Doisneau's photos tell the story of the streets of Paris from the time of the grave crisis of the thirties to the great changes shortly after the devastating war. Despite the dark times during which Doisneau was doing his work, his images convey hope. Among his themes are love, artless youth and silent longing. Doisneau captured the essence of French life on film. The Nederlands Fotomuseum proudly presents this exhibition that is in line with the ambition to highlight the canon of international documentary photography that has for so long been neglected in the Netherlands.
© Robert Doisneau | The bicycle of Jacques Tati. 1947
Robert Doisneau (1912-1994) discovered photography by the end of the twenties. During the forties and fifties he enjoyed great fame both nationally and internationally: in fact he was the best-represented photographer at the celebrated exhibition of photography The Family of Man (1955) in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In his own country Doisneau received many prestigious prizes and awards, including the Prix Nièpce in 1956 and the Grand Prix National de la Photographie (1983). He was appointed Chevalier of the Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur in 1984 and in the same year he was invited by the French government to photograph the Paris suburbs once again. This he did with a large size camera and in colour – and with a remarkably modern result.
© Robert Doisneau | Hell, Paris. 1952
Doisneau, like other photographers of his time, was skilled in various genres within photography, from the reportage and the news to fashion, advertising, illustrating and politics. Doisneau is primarily known for his reportages, but in the course of his career he also worked in advertising and fashion – as an industrial photographer for Renault, for example, as a photojournalist for the Alliance Photo agency and for the fashion magazine Vogue as a staff photographer. In addition he made portraits of many famous artists such as Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti and writers such as Blaise Cendrars and Jacques Prévert. His oeuvre is extensive and varied and very influential to this day. The exhibition in the Nederlands Fotomuseum comprises a significant segment from the estate of this legendary photographer, which has been administered under the name Atelier Doisneau by his two daughters since his death in 1994.
© Robert Doisneau | Miss Anita. 1951