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61 36 Robert Doisneau, Les Lilas de Menilmontant, 1956 Signed Inscribed with photographer's initials, title and date on reverse Silver gelatin print, printed later 11 1/2 x 10 inches Robert Doisneau was born in Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, France, on 14 April 1912. He studied Lithography at L'École Estienne in Chantilly, but upon graduation found his degree useless, as the trade was on the decline. Once he had found work at a pharmaceutical company, he became fascinated with photography, and taught himself its foundations. In 1930, he began to embrace photography as a hobby and would wander the streets of Paris recording French life. In 1932, he sold his first photograph to the newspaper L'Excelsior, and soon after found work as an assistant to the sculptor and photographer, André Vigneau. However, this was curtailed by his military service. In 1934, Doisneau found work at a Renault factory in Boulogne- Billancourt, taking advertising photographs, and it was there that he had his formal training in photography. He was drafted into the Second World War, in 1939, fighting first in the army and later in the Resistance. Throughout the war, he used his skills as an engraver to forge passports and identification papers as well as photographing Paris through its stages of Occupation and Liberation. When Paris was officially liberated in 1944 Doisneau captured many, now famous, photographs of euphoric Parisians. Doisneau gained recognition with his post-war photographs, and began selling them to Life magazine. In 1946, he joined the French photography agency, Rapho, and remained with them, despite being asked by Henri Cartier-Bresson to join Magnum Agency in 1947. In 1949, Vogue hired Doisneau but he did not enjoy fashion photography, as he felt more involved on the streets than the wealthy, upper-class clientele that patronised the magazine. However, his fashion work did not stop him from continuing to roam the streets, photographing playful Parisian scenes. Between the years 1949 and 1956, Doisneau published six books of street photography, but interest in his work faded from the 1960s as the French lost their taste for his humanist style. He continued to work, however, and produced advertising work and celebrity portraits for the next few decades. He spent most of his life in Montrouge, Paris, and died there on 1 April 1994. Robert Doisneau 1912-1994

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