Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt (Vaucluse), 1957
Out for a walk Willy Ronis discovered this scene, "as if a curtain had suddenly risen over a play by Marcel Pagnol. But there was a hole in the center of the stage." Suddenly the little boy came out to fill it!
Willy Ronis
Promenade de nuit à Venise (Italie), 1959
"I have fun looking at the store's sign, a somewhat naive tribute to the magazine for which I worked a lot. Nothing to add ; I'm not very good at multi-level reading."
Willy Ronis
Rue de la Huchette, Paris, 1957
I love Willy Ronis's commentaries to his photographs; he almost always has something interesting to say. None available here, but this outstanding photo can certainly stand on its own.
Willy Ronis
Rue de Castiglione, Paris, 1958
"I have found a luxury car that fits very well, & my model is in a happy mood. Fashion photography can be a pain in the ass. For my part, it was only part of my professional activity, & I often had fun there."
You can tell!
Willy Ronis
Musée du Louvre: La Mort de Sardanapale, 1968
"I was spoiled for choice. I chose this couple, mother & son apparently, because the young age of the child & his seriousness had amused me, especially when a small reaction of impatience caused this movement of the foot."
Willy Ronis
Autoportrait, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Vaucluse), 1978
"The composition of this photograph providing for a framing in height, the usual disorder of my office has been slightly rectified for reasons of balance in the composition."
We all do it!
Willy Ronis
Le Café de France, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (Vaucluse), 1979
Once again Ronis sets up his camera in front of his scene, waiting for the right combination of main actors & passers-by to emerge.
Willy Ronis
Chez un horloger, rue d’Aligre, Paris, 1952
"The young craftsman had kindly allowed me to operate from his shop, which gave me an interesting background on the market stalls & the neighborhood housewives."
Willy Ronis
Dans la cuisine-séjour, Gordes (Vaucluse), 1957
"Christmas holidays in Gordes. It snowed. The cat looks sadly at the transformed landscape."
#caturday
Willy Ronis
Musicien aveugle, 1990
"Since 1987, almost every December, on Boulevard Haussmann, near the corner of rue du Havre, I have taken a photo of Stéphane Comnène, a blind musician."
Geoff Dyer has written about the photographer's trope of the blind accordionist.
Willy Ronis
Villa des Boers, Paris, 1987
This March 12, here I am again walking through the many villas which connect the rue de Bellevue to the rue de Mouzaïa, near the Place des Fêtes (19th district). In the background, the bell tower of the Saint-François-d'Assise church.
Willy Ronis
"1964, Café de la Paix. I got out of the Opera metro & I find myself, this morning of June 9, on Boulevard des Capucines. Suddenly there appears, in a hurry, in front of the Café de la Paix, this lovely young woman, whom I seize in the middle of passers-by."
Willy Ronis
Autoportrait dans le studio paternel, Paris, 1935
Ronis worked in his father's portrait photography studio in Montmartre. When his father died in 1936, Ronis sold the studio & became a freelance photographer.
Willy Ronis
Le pont de Bir-Hakeim depuis l'esplanade du pont d'Iéna, Paris, 1957 ; [Amoureux]
When Ronis is on the verge of a pure landscape or architectural photo, he still often finds an important bit of human interest, hence the "Amoureux" in his caption.
Willy Ronis
Partie de pétanque, Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhône), 1947
The French name pétanque comes from petanca in the Provençal dialect of the Occitan language, deriving from the expression pè tancat, meaning 'foot fixed' or 'foot planted' (on the ground).
Thanks, Wikipedia!
Willy Ronis
Marché d'Aligre, Paris, 1952
"As it stands, this image is one of my favorites in terms of the balance it ensures between its readability, the internal tension of its composition and the escape it offers to my imagination."
Willy Ronis
Caveau de la Huchette, Paris, 1957
Ronis visited this nightclub & tested strobe flashes, but couldn't get the shots he wanted. He returned the next night & tried available light, opening his shutter for 1/2 second.
"Elémentaire, mon cher Watson!"
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