Robert Doisneau
Robert Doisneau (14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. In the 1930s he used a form of camera called a Leica on the streets of Paris. He and Henri Cartier-Bresson were pioneers of photojournalism.
Robert Doisneau | |
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Born | Robert Doisneau 14 April 1912 Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, France |
Died | 1 April 1994 Montrouge, France | (aged 81)
Resting place | Raizeux |
Education | École Estienne, 1929 graduate, diplomas in engraving and lithography |
Occupation | Photographer, engraver |
Known for | Street photography, Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (The kiss by the City Hall) |
Title | Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honour |
As a young man Doisneau attended the École Estienne in Paris to learn the crafts involved in the book trade, but he always claimed that the streets of the working-class neighbourhood of Gentilly provided his most important schooling. In 1929, in an effort to improve his draftsmanship, he began photographing, just as Modernist ideas were beginning to promote photography as the prime medium for advertising and reportage.