The Art of photography

RespondingtotheSubject:

TheCity

ToRobertDoisneau,whohaslived

in

and

aroundParissincehewasbornin1912,

thecity

is"aneternaltheaterwherethe

actionneverstops."Thepriceofadmis-

sionforDoisneauis"allthetimeIputinto

catchtheluckymoment.

Iwalk,and

to

feelfree,Imustbealone.Ifsomeone

werewithme,Iwouldbe

ashamedofthe

lackoforganizationandcommonsense

inthe

circuitsImake.

"Iconstantlychangedirection,come

backonmyownsteps,hesitate.Ifollow

people.Andyet,

Ihave

to

keepadis-

tanceinordertoavoidstampingontheir

secretgarden,otherwise

theopportunity

willbegone."

At

the

timeDoisneaugothisassign-

menttoshootthecity,Pariswas

shroud-

edin

rainclouds,andDoisneauwasdis-

mayed.Butthenhedecidedto

turnthe

weathertohisadvantage,anduseitto

showhowraincanact

"asamirrorofthe

skyandrevealanotheraspectof

man."

Believingfirmlythataphotographer

"shouldneverhesitateto

wastetime,"

Doisneau

beganhisstrollinMenilmon-

tant,aworking-class

neighborhood,and

wentontoSaintPaul, ashopping

area

crammedwith

boutiquesandmarkets.

Again

and

againhesawthebeginnings

ofpicturesabouttoform.Doisneauspent

sometimefollowingaglasscuttercarry-

ingtraysofhisworkson

hisshoulders

preciselyassuchcraftsmenhavedone

forcenturies,"butnothingcameofit."

AtlastDoisneaufound

himselfnearthe

LouvreMuseumastheraincloudsburst.

"Whatluck!Thatsudden

ramafterhours

ofgray,dull,flatsky!Peoplehavean

animalreaction:Theypanic,run,take

shelter.Childrenlaughbecause

theyare

soaked,andthisallmakestheimage."

Takingshelter

himselfunderoneofthe

museum'sentrancegates,Doisneau

re-

alizedto

hisdelightthatacomposition

wastakingshape.Hesaw

that

a

wingof

theLouvreandthestreetlampswere

forminga

streamlinedtriangle.Anddown

theverycenterofthatcomposition,

Dois-

neau

noticed afamilygrouprunningfor

covertoward

him.

Atsuchmoments,whenheknowsthat

theimageisthere,

Doisneauadmitsthat

"thenonchalant,phlegmaticmanthatI

normallyambecomesatiger!IknewI

mustnotmissit.Whenthe

childrenbe-

camefunnywiththeirpenguin-likepos-

ture,thenthebuttonhadto

bepressed."