Robert Doisneau

I am currently in France and today I visited Paris. I was walking along the Seine where I came across a whole row of stalls selling art prints, postcards, books etc. I was fascinated particularly with the postcard prints of Paris from decades before in black and white. The artist that featured the most was Robert Doisneau. I was fascinated by how he had captured Paris without having to have the famous landmarks in the composition. He captures the essence of Paris and how romantic the place is.

Doisneau started off his formal training in lithography and engraving, but having been surrounded by artistic people he took up amateur photography. At first, he was so shy that he took images of the pavement, then progressed onto taking images of children whilst they were playing, without the intergration of their parents, treating their play with respect. He was offered jobs with in ternational magazines such as Vogue and Life but still preffered street photography in Paris.

This is probably his most memorable piece and is easily my favourite out of all the works Ive seen. This image for me is the essence of Paris. Even though there is no signature buildings or icons within composition, the image depicts Paris perfectly. With the hussle and bussle of life going on in a busy city, there is always love :)