When the great photographers immortalized the two Charentes

Daily life between 1930 and 1960

“The Charentes of the Great Photographers”, published in only 1,500 copies, immerses us in a magnificent black and white which documents the daily life of women and men in the fields, oysters or vineyards. In the port of Rochefort in 1967, Robert Doisneau took over the crane of exotic woods, Jean Dieuz helped the hands of the women who sorted the shrimp caught in Oléron. We savor the quality of an image taken in 1953 by Dieuzaide around the Pilori fountain in La Rochelle to evoke a market day. We are struck by the realism of the photos of Hungarian photographer François Kollar when he pushes open the door of a farm.

“The images of all these photographers are positions, benevolent manifestos. They tell us about man in his simplicity, without trickery, his dreams, his work and his sorrows,” writes journalist and writer Serge Sanchez in his preface. His text is also very useful for understanding why and how Boubat, Doisneau and Cartier-Bresson found themselves surveying the two Charentes.

Last year, Éditions du Ruisseau introduced us to incredible images of La Rochelle and its surroundings, dating from the 1920s, in color, using the autochrome process.

Practical. “The Charentes of the great photographers” by Éditions du Ruisseau. 32 euros. Published in 1,500 copies. Everything on: editionsduruisseau.fr