Robert Doisneau

French photographer

Robert Doisneau (14 April 19121 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
Doisneau in his studio in Montrouge, 1992
Born
Robert Doisneau

(1912-04-14)14 April 1912
Died1 April 1994(1994-04-01) (aged 81)
Montrouge, France
Resting placeRaizeux
EducationÉcole Estienne, 1929 graduate, diplomas in engraving and lithography
Occupation(s)Photographer, engraver
Known forStreet photography, Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (The kiss by the City Hall)
TitleChevalier 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.