Willy Ronis - The Eastern Suburbs under the Eye of the Master

Willy Ronis (1910-2009) is a world-famous humanist photographer. He deals with societal subjects for newspapers and, for his personal creation, favors idealistic and optimistic subjects. For him, photography is an artistic discipline. Thus, even photos with social subjects have a poetic aspect. He was a great photographer in Paris, but he also traveled according to orders or to his inspiration.

Willy Ronis went to the banks of the Marne for the first time in 1938. There he photographed the launching of a boat. This photo is included in the family album. He then visited the site regularly and responded to an order from Le Figaro in 1947: a report on taverns and the atmosphere of Sundays at the water's edge. A photograph from this report will remain famous: Chez Maxe, Joinville where a dancer makes two young women dance at the same time on the terrace of a tavern. Other photos of the banks of the Marne will be taken on the occasion of the release of a book on the "Islands of Paris": Willy Ronis photographs the islands of the Marne at Créteil, Champigny, Saint-Maur, Nogent, Le Perreux ...

Willy Ronis is also interested in film studios, such as Ladislas Starewitch’s, pioneer of animated puppet films, in Fontenay-sous Bois. Point de vue magazine also sends him to capture the atmosphere of the studios of Joinville and Saint-Maurice.

From 1988 to 1991, he spent his weekends in Nogent with his wife, the painter Marie-Anne Lansiaux, who joined the Artists' Retirement Home. He ritually walks with her and photographs Bry, Chennevières, Joinville and the Polangis district where their favorite bistro is located.

Willy Ronis' work is exhibited around the world and his images are in the collections of major museums. The Heritage and Photography Media Library has all of his work. Most of the exhibition presented at the Intercommunal Museum of Nogent-sur-Marne comes from this institution. The local angle chosen for the exhibition being original, the Museum will present many new photos.

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Photos : ©Ministère de la culture, MPP