Three French Photographers and an Expatriate: Édouard Boubat, Robert Doisneau, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, and Louis Faurer

Afterimage Gallery is featuring a small, intimate show of twelve prints by four wonderful photographers. All are known for their documentary work, and French photographers certainly have a long tradition in this genre. Although Louis Faurer is not French, he lived in Paris for a number of years.

Édouard Boubat (1923-1999). He didn’t become a photographer until after World War II, having spent years in forced labor under the Nazis. He became best known for his work in the French magazine Réalités. His reputation spread eventually worldwide.

Robert Doisneau (1912-1994). He began photographing on the streets of Paris in the 1930s, and later he was signed by a photo agency. Some of his famous images are humorous, and his best known photograph, from 1950, is Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville.

Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1894-1986). As a child at seven years old, he received his first camera. From then on, he provided a charming look at the Parisian leisure class. His fame didn’t really start until MOMA acquired his work in the early 1960s, at the suggestion of Richard Avedon.

Louis Faurer (1916-2001). Although not as famous as other documentary photographers, he was lauded by Robert Frank, Edward Steichen and others. He became known as a photojournalist, working for various magazines, and eventually LIFE. In later years, he had a teaching career. He lived in Paris for six years in the early 70s.

The show will run until July 30. It can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.afterimagegallery.com/FrenchPhotographers.htm.