Humanist Charentes in the eye of great photographers

The Charentes of the 1930s and 1960s, authentic, illustrated by the great photographers of the time: Doisneau, Ronis, Niepce, Dieuzaide… 30 years turned upside down by the Second World War. Yet we discover slices of life that are far from gloomy. On the contrary. It is smiles and life that are revealed throughout the pages. From the coast to the land; from work to vacation; from fishing to farming, from walks to games at the beach, life has returned to normal. With a common denominator in all these clichés: humanism. Men have taken their destiny into their own hands and are not letting themselves be defeated.

“We are in a period marked by a war and yet we have no photos of destruction or rubble. This is not what these photographers were looking for,” explains the critic. “There, they immortalize life restarting. » The carefreeness in the lens of these photographic artists is landscapes “bathed in a pale golden light” and people sublimated by mother-of-pearl reflections. Insouciance is a series of photos by Robert Doisneau on the Île de Ré.

Carelessness and life restarting

Life is resuming, it is La Rochelle, a fishing village. Today, the activity has changed. La Rochelle has become a seaside resort and tourist town. But the places remained. The buildings haven’t moved. “We recognize everything,” continues Serge Sanchez. This is also what is valuable in this book. We discover places that are crowded and touristy today, whereas almost a century ago, there was no one there. However, these were already the places where we walked. »

“We discover places where there was no one that have become very touristy today.”

This book, which compiles 140 photographs, most of them unpublished, is a remarkable piece of painstaking work produced by Romain Bondonneau and Éditions du Ruisseau for which he is responsible, an associative publishing house based in Sarlat in Dordogne. Who is not his first attempt at a book of photographs and who has already released “The colors of the Charentes in 1916-1920” thanks to the Albert Kahn collection. It was while digging through these photographic funds that Romain Bondonneau realized that there was something to do in the Charentes. It’s successful. He unearthed some little nuggets. “And put Kollar in the light, a photographer less known than Doisneau or Ronis even though he left equally remarkable work,” rejoices Serge Sanchez.

Back in the book. We turn the pages and we come across François Kollar and a whole series on cognac; from the winemaker to the cellar master, including the cooper and the distiller. “The Charentes of the great photographers” cannot be devoured. He nibbles himself. Gently. We leaf through it. We enjoy it. We put it down. Then we come back to it. Last stop in Angoulême. And this photo by Janine Niepce, taken in 1952, entitled “Sunday in Angoulême”. We see a child from behind and a lamppost. “It must no longer be the same,” laughs Serge Sanchez, “but the rest is the same. »And the stones of the steps going down rue Laferrière are the same.

The Charentes of great photographers, Éditions du Ruisseau, €32.