Robert Doisneau November 29, 2001 - January 12, 2002 Initially trained as a lithographer, Robert Doisneau picked up the camera in 1929. The craft was for the most part self-taught, his motivation and enthusiasm driven by his desire to capture his beloved streets of Paris, its idealisms as well as its characters. An ongoing effort to capture the same with his drawings proved to be disappointing; the camera was the exacting vehicle he longed for.  His professional career as a photographer began while working at the studio of Atelier Ullman, a creative advertising studio that catered primarily to the pharmaceutical industry. Photography, with its inherent artistic modernity, was quickly taken in by advertising. As such, the Ullmann studio soon installed its own darkroom and acquired all the equipment needed for in-house work. It wasn't long before Doisneau filled the shoes as the studio's head photographer. After this initial thrust, Doisneau went to work as an assistant to André Vigneau who would leave the most profound impression on the young artist, introducing him to the breadth of painting, philosophy, cinema and contemporary design, as Vigneau himself was a part of the social circle of Le Corbusier and other modern designers.  From 1934-39 Doisneau worked for Renault in Ballancourt, as an industrial and advertising photographer. With the onset of World War II, Doisneau's dream to pursue a career as a free-lance photographer was dashed, at least temporarily. He served his country in the light infantry division for a mere six months, having fallen ill he was subsequently discharged in April 1940. Making ends meet under Occupation was difficult. Living in such oppressive conditions, there arose a demand for escapist imagery. With that, Doisneau scraped a living by selling picture postcards of pastoral scenes. A fortuitous commission to photograph some of the countries leading scientists for the resultant book Les Nouveaux Destins de l'intelligence helped make ends meet as well. In addition, he was frequently approached by the Resistance to copy/forge official documents and identificaion cards. At the end of the war many of his images of the Paris Liberation were sold to American newspapers and magazines, laying the groundwork for him to become a reportage photographer. In 1945 he joined Alliance-Photo, a cooperative agency, where he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, among others. Although his connections with the agency proved financially ill, through it he did meet the editor Pierre Betz of the journal Le Point. Between 1945 and 1960 the journal would commission Doisneau for various feature articles, one of which, in 1952, resulted in some of the most renown and captivating portraits of Picasso. In 1949 Doisneau was offered a lucrative position at the prestigious French Vogue magazine. Although he would not renew his contract four years later, he did continue as a contributor in the following years. By 1950 Doisneau was gaining international acclaim as the result of LIFE magazine publishing the famed kiss series which included (now icon) Le Baiser de l'Hôtel de Ville. In 1951 his work was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art along with the images by Willy Ronis, Izis and Brassaï.  For rest of his career Doisneau would rally between commercial work and documenting the streets and society of his native Paris. The unadorned "Frenchness" of his images continues to resonate the truest state of one of the world's most romanticized cities, from its petite bourgeoisie to its proverbial underbelly.  Robert Doisneau died on April Fools' Day 1994. This exhibition will include selected works that span the 1930's and into the 1970's. First Thursday Reception December 6, 2001 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.