DOISNEAU (Robert). - Lot 85

DOISNEAU (Robert). Doisneau 40/44. Text by Pascal Ory. Paris, Hoëbeke / Center for the History of the Resistance and Deportation, 1994. Large quarto, illustrated publisher’s hardcover. A catalog published to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Liberation, devoted to a long-overlooked aspect of Robert Doisneau’s work: the war years, from the Occupation to the Liberation (1940–1944). Far removed from the image of the photographer of Parisian lovers, this volume brings together photographs taken during the darkest years of the 20th century. Employed as an industrial photographer and later active in the Resistance within a network producing forged documents, Doisneau captures with remarkable restraint daily life under the Occupation—the shortages, the streets of Paris, the anonymous figures, the destruction—as well as the first days of the Liberation. Pascal Ory’s text places these images in their historical context and demonstrates just how decisive this period was in shaping the photographer’s humanistic vision. Richly illustrated with high-quality heliogravure reproductions, this book is now the definitive reference on this particular period of Doisneau’s work and serves as the ideal complement to the major monographs devoted to his postwar work. Condition: Very good copy.