At the age of 103, photographer André Durieux died during the night from Saturday to Sunday in Hyères. The shutter has definitively fallen on pupils who, for decades, have missed nothing of the evolution of the city of palm trees and its inhabitants.
Born in Lyon in April 1921, André Durieux took his first photos in 1936. The Second World War led him to work for the Air Force and the Navy and directed his objective towards the Mediterranean.
A setting that he appreciates since once the conflict is over, it is in Hyères that he sets up his tripods in a photo studio-store in the city center.
“When I was a kid, he was already there.”smiles respectfully Jean-Claude Chapput, known as Mic, another well-known photographer in Hyères.
Press photographer
André Durieux also works for Nice-Morning and covers all the news from Hyères. “He was obviously a good photographer who had an eyegreets Hyérois Dominique Dabin, former editor-in-chief of the daily. He knew his job, but he also knew the territory and the people of this territory. André Durieux, it was a sesame that opened all doors “.
Thousands of rolls of film pass through its boxes. Local news, inaugurations, celebrity appearances… The entire second half of the 20th centurye century passes in front of his lens and he takes the portrait of Gabin, Belmondo, the viscountess of Marie-Laure de Noailles, Pompidou, the former mayor Léopold Ritondale or anonymous people. On the landscape side, he boxes timeless postcard decorations but also everyday street corners where jobs print the film one last time before disappearing.
-A mountain of photos that he had the good idea to first keep carefully… and then give it to the municipal archives in 2011. “I had to give it all up one day, right? I’m 90 years old. I wanted to do it before I died…”he then explains to Var-morning in a smile.
A generosity that corresponds to the character, full of humor and energy. Until almost 100 years old, he was still seen walking several kilometers every day to stay in shape.. “I refuse to sit on a sofa. Otherwise, it’s done! You should never sit”he advised.
90,000 photos in the municipal archives
“This André Durieux fund, as it is now called, covers a period which saw nine mayors succeed one another, from Joseph Clotis (1947-1959) to Léopold Ritondale whose 25 years of mandate began in March 1983 ” today greets the town hall which has regularly drawn on these some 90,000 photos to offer exhibitions or publish the work It was Hyères in 2013.
“This important slice of local life largely coincides with the Trente Glorieuses (1945-1975), a period of political instability under the Fourth Republic and colonial wars until 1962, but also of reconstruction, baby boom, of full employment, constant rise in the standard of living, entry into the consumer society and mass tourism.”
The funeral of André Durieux will take place Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the Saint-Louis church. Var-morning extends its sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.
