July 2012
124 posts
Is the James Joyce photo in the public domain. I'd like to use it in a video for youtube: Thanking you in advance David Holler / hollerdavid 'at' yahoo 'dot' com
Hi!
Which photo of him do you think, there are two. If it’s by Berenice Abbott, then I don’t think it’s in the public domain and how can I even know if something is there?
Featured photographer: Lee Miller
Hello!
I’m terribly sorry for not doing this earlier, but I was away a lot.
The featured photographer for the next week will be Lee Miller. I will start posting tomorrow, but because of that I will feature her until next Saturday instead of a Friday as usual.
Sorry for that and take care!
Robert Doisneau (1912 - 1994)
Originally trained as a lithographer, Robert Doisneau embraced in 1929 a new interest as a self-taught photographer. He regarded photography as the ideal medium for recording life during his wanderings through Paris. His career as a professional photographer began in 1934 at the Renault works in Billancourt, where he was employed until 1939 as an industrial and advertising photographer. Also in 1939 he decided to become an independent photojournalist, but still in that same year the war forced him to give up his dream of becoming a freelance photographer. He served in the French army until 1940, and from then until the end of the war, he worked for the résistance. Even so, he did not entirely interrupt his work as a photographer. Instead, he tried to earn a little money by producing postcards. In 1949, Doisneau signed a contract with the fashion magazine Vogue, for which he worked as a full-time staff photographer until 1952 and from then on as a freelance photographer. Through his activities for Vogue, the photographer became acquainted with high-society circles, for which, however, he did not have as much sympathy as he did for the common people in the streets. He also did not enter the annals of photography as a fashion photographer. What made Doisneau famous was his “street photography”. In countless snapshots, he humorously, but not without empathy, documented life in the suburbs of Paris.
Robert Doisneau is one of France’s most noted photographers. He is noted for the many playful and unsupposing images chronicling everyday French life. His prolific outbook over the course of several decades provides us a marvelous record of French life. His images don’t seek to overcome the viewer. They are often modest in scope and playful. He is at his best with people. His images of French childhood are especially helpful for HBC. He was influenced by the work of Kertesz, Atget, and Cartier-Bresson who also provided wonderful images of childhood. He published over 20 books providing realistic, but charming images of quiet, often personal moments in the lives of individuals.
