Jules Decrauzat

In 1899 the young reporter landed a coup in the context of the so-called Dreyfus Trial in Rennes: he caught the perpetrator of an attack on Alfred Dreyfus’ lawyer in the act. The magazine L’Illustration paid a lot of money for the picture, which constituted the start of an international career – as least that is how Jules Decrauzat himself describes his debut in photojournalism. In 1900 he was sent to South Africa to report on the Boer War. In subsequent years he travelled first to South America, then around Europe as a photo-reporter for French media. In 1910 Decrauzat accepted an offer from the illustrated magazine La Suisse Sportive, which was published in Geneva and for which he worked until 1925. After that he was given various organisational tasks – as president of the national sports commission of the Automobile Club Switzerland, or as a member of the organisational committee of the motor show in Geneva as of 1927. From 1929 to 1931 he was again active in journalism, as editor of the weekly magazine La Patrie Suisse, which published many of his images and articles. However sport had then shifted into the background, with Decrauzat reporting on events like the Wine Festival in Neuchatel or the Flower Corso in Locarno. He also wrote articles on art and literature exhibitions and for the section called Curiosités Photographiques.

In the 1940s and 50s articles by Jules Decrauzat appeared in the Journal de Genève, dealing mainly with issues related to cars or presenting news from the salons in Geneva and Paris. “Uncle Jules”, as he was meantime called by people in Geneva, continually proved to be a good observer and a pleasant narrator. But his best years were definitely over. The "pioneer of photo-reportage and sports reporting", to cite the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, died on 29 June 1960. His work then faded into oblivion.