RENÉ-JACQUES (1908-2003, René GITON - dit, photographer - ph - Lot 13

Sales contact:

Isabelle CAZEILS - info@expertiseiclic.com

"This important collection of photographs comes from the René-Jacques family and presents a French photographer with a wide range of activities: advertising, books, press, reportage, industrial techniques and architectural and graphic documentation.

In the June 1958 issue of "Images du Monde", journalist Albert Plécy devotes an article to René-Jacques, explaining "... His ambition is that each of his photos should immediately situate you in a region, in a given atmosphere. The character is you, the reader ....".

René-Jacques (René Giton) was born on May 29, 1908 in Phnom-Penh, Cambodia. He began photography as a keen amateur, alongside his studies and travels between France and Indochina. His first "recognized" works date from 1926-28. In 1932, he took the name René-Jacques, and in 1933 stopped studying law to devote himself professionally to his passion. In 1934, in the lobby of the Paris cinema "Studio 28", he held his first solo exhibition. Around 1938-39, he turned to cinema, working as a set photographer for the film "Remorques", directed by Jean Grémillon and starring actor Jean Gabin. In 1943, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France bought some of his photographs. In 1945, he became President and Founder of the Association Nationale des Photographes Publicitaires et de Mode (ANPPM). In 1946, he co-founded the Groupe des XV, a group of photographers including Robert Doisneau and Willy Ronis. In 1947, René-Jacques opened his own studio in Paris and devoted himself to advertising photography and industrial reportage.

As a reporter and illustrator, he took the photographs for Francis Carco's book, Envoûtement de Paris, published by Grasset, in 1939. He continued with other books: Trésors Méconnus de Paris by René Héron de Villefosse, La Mer est un Pays Secret by Edouard Pesions (Grasset) and Les Olympiques by Henri Montherlant. He also created "Photographic Albums": La Seine à Paris (Calmann-Lévy), Images de la Seine au cours des quatre saisons (published in 900 copies), Rodin's Masterpieces (Les Publications Techniques et Artistiques), Promenades dans Paris by A. Maneby (Calmann-Lévy) and Paris à travers les Siècles by Philippe Lefrançois (Calmann-Lévy). He also worked for a number of French and foreign magazines.

In the 1950s, a journalist from "Photo-Monde", P. Sonthonnax, points out that "René-Jacques spends hours in his laboratory getting the maximum out of a negative, and it's only after dozens of prints in large format that he feels more or less satisfied and stops his process to obtain the given number of final proofs (...) He uses a camera for posed photos, whenever possible, and a 24 x 36 for photos taken on the fly, whenever necessary (...)".

He exhibited at various venues (including Arles in 1954, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in 1957 and the Galerie Montalembert in Paris in 1958) and was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. He died on July 6, 2003 in Tory at the age of 95.

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