made portraits of the French underground resistance
fighters. It was this intense experience that caused
him to radically alter his style. He asked if he could
photograph his comrades of the Resistance; they
showed up nicely washed and dressed. As this com-
pletely changed the image he desired, he asked them
to don their filthy, war-stained clothing that he
might capture the heroes of Limoges.
These photographs caused a stir when they were
exhibited in Limoges under the title ‘‘Ceux de
Grammont,’’ and they caused him to be noticed
upon his return to Paris, where he met with Laure
Albin-Guillot, known as the ‘‘muse of portraiture’’
and one of the leaders of the E ́cole de Paris, the
photographer Brassaı ̈, and Emmanuel Sougez,
founder of the photo serviceL’Illustrationand an
important promoter of young photographers. He
met and photographed Dora Maar at this time,
producing a notable portrait of her smoking a cigar-
ette in a masculine manner. Izis mounted his first
exhibition in 1946, but quickly realized he could not
support himself without returning to studio work,
and opened another studio at 66, rue de Vouille in
1947, which he maintained until 1954.
When he became associated withParis-Matchin
1949, he had the occasion to photograph Paris’s
leading artistic and literary figures. He met the
painter Marc Chagall, well-known for his joyful,
mystical Jewish subjects and became friends. Cha-
gall later allowed him as the only photographer to
document his work on the ceiling of the opera in
Paris, photographs he later published in a book.
In 1951 he met poet and screenwriter Jacques
Pre ́vert, with whom Bidermanas jointly created
several beautiful art books, includingCharmes of
Londres(1951) following a three-week stay in Lon-
don,with handwritten texts by writer and play-
wright Jacques Audiberti to poet and writer
Andre ́Virel, One of his best-known photographs,
shot in the East End slums, shows a man blowing
bubbles. In 1951, Izis provided 59 more photos for
the publicationGrand bal du printemps; these books
are now highly sought-after for both Izis’s poetic
images and the texts they contain.
In 1955, Izis participated in the international exhi-
bitionThe Family of Man, a worldwide success that
featured the type of humanistic photography that
was so characteristic of that era in France. His
work became internationally known at this time,
although he rarely left Paris. He did complete mem-
orable images during sojourns in Israel as well Lon-
don in the early 1950s. In 1965 his childhood interest
in circuses and friendship with Marc Chagall resulted
in the publicationLe Cirque d’Izis, with lithographs
by the painter and circus photographs by Izis.
Izis was dismissive of methods and devices, such
as light meters or flashguns, which he thought
would destroy the atmosphere he searched to cap-
ture and recreate in his prints. He was not very
prolific, often waiting a considerable time to cap-
ture the right image, and employing his trusty old
Rolleiflex in all his photography.
Throughout his career, Izis was interested in
individuals rather than showing people as part of
an event. He photographed what made him cur-
ious, moved him, or made him think. Pre ́vert com-
pared him to one who goes out strolling in dreams.
As the meaning of his photographs is often rather
more suggestive than explicit, his documentary
photography belongs to the so-called metaphorical
documentation. His motifs often resemble a riddle
and require poetic understanding. His books, espe-
cially ‘‘Paris des poe`tes’’ (1977) demonstrate the
artist’s sometimes surrealist working methods. In
1978, he became an honorary member of the
Rencontres d’Arles. He died on May 16, 1980.
The Hotel de Sully honored Izis with a retrospec-
tive in 1988. While his archive belongs to his widow,
his photographs have been exhibited internationally
and are included in the collections of several photo-
graphy museums and photography departments
within general museums such as the Bibliothe`que
Historique de la Ville de Paris, Bibliothe`que natio-
nale de Paris, Muse ́e Reattu, Arles, France, Muse ́e
du Limoges, France, Museum of Modern Art, New
York, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
NathalieNeumann
Seealso:Photography in FranceBiography
Born in Marijampole, Lithuania, 17 January 1911. Appren-
ticed to a studio photographer, 1924; immigrated to
Paris and opened own studio 1930. Persecuted as a
Jew, fled to Southern France, 1940; took on his pseudo-
nym Izis. Fought for the liberation of Limoges, 1944;
returned to Paris, working freelance, 1946; correspon-
dent forParis-Match,1949–1969; freelance photojourn-
alist until his death. Died in Paris, France, 16 May 1980.Individual Exhibitions
1944 Ceux de Grammont;Muse ́e de Limoges; Limoges, France
Limoges en Novembre; Muse ́e de Limoges; Limoges,
France
1955 Izis; Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago, Illinois
1957 Izis; Limelight Gallery; New York, New York
1966 Cirques d’Izis; Muse ́e de Limoges; Limoges, France
1972 Izis (Israel Biderman); Museum of Tel Aviv; Tel Aviv,
Israel
1975 Gale ́rie Agathe Gaillard; Paris, FranceIZIS (ISRAEL BIDERMANAS)