Title: Les Femmes
Author: J.H. Lartigue
Publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1974
Photographs and text by J.H. Lartigue; 124 pages, 110 color and black and white illustrations
J.H. Lartigue might be one the most successful “amateur” photographers of the 20th century. He began working with a large format camera when he was only six years old and began with a Brownie two years later. Throughout his long life, Lartigue considered himself primarily a painter, but since the 1960s, his photographs have been prized for their informality, sense of movement, and charm. Les Femmes is a collection of images taken between 1903 and 1973 and completely devoted to “women” as a character type. They appear as young, middle-aged, old, poised or animated, perfectly coiffed or casual, conscious or unaware of their status as an object of the photographer’s gaze. From the decidedly bourgeois portraits, to shots more reminiscent of the snapshot or magazine spread, Lartigue covered so many different forms, styles, and types of women, that this book could never have received any other title. Many of the images are printed in black and white with an unexpected clarity, but there are many examples of his fascination with the early autochrome print, which satisfied his painterly attraction to color. The two types of printing are mixed throughout the volume, adding an element of diversity and richness parallel to the book’s subject matter.