What's The Secret Behind The Most Famous Photo?

Did you ever think about black and white photography and wondered what is so magical about it

? Is it because it's still reality, but not the way we see it or because it reflects old forgotten eras. It suits every interior, no matter what the style or colours of the room are. It suits any frame, wether oldfashioned or contemporary.

The first permanent color photograph was taken by theoretical physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell in 1861, but because of a very complex way of developing such images, black and white photography was in a lead for many decades to come, until simplifying the process in the 40's. Still, some of the well known photographers decided to stay with B&W. One of them is Robert Doisneau, born in 1942 in, Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, noted for his frank and often humorous depictions of Paris street life. In his scope of interest there were always ?common gestures of common people in common situations" - as seen in the suburbs of Paris, where Doisneau lived nearly all his life, walking in the small streets, having coffee in the cafe on the corner, looking at people. In most cases he was hidden with his equipment - in a safe place, not to disturb the scene and scare the models with his camera. It's not a secret though that many photos were arranged, he was provoking chosen people to act a scene in front of a camera's eye and so was his most famous shot - "A kiss in front of Hotel de Ville", taken in 1950.

There is a story behind this most famous photo - a story that ended in Court. After war, by day Doisneau was a Vogue's photographer and by night he was working for Rapho's agency. Life magazine was Rapho's client - they commissioned a series of photos of couples in love, caught in the streets. Majority of those shots were arranged, though they seem to be taken spontaneously. That's how he managed to get a shot of the young couple in front of l'Htel de Ville. It was a fresh spring morning of 1950. In the group of passers-by, right to a caf there's a kissing couple - completely unaware of people walking around, and certainly not focusing on the photographer sitting by the table taking a pic at this very moment. Exactly 42 years later, as "Today" wrote - exactly the same couple shows up in the same place - Denise and Jean-Louis Lavergne. Elrderly people accused Doisneau of having stolen their kiss and used it to create one of the most romantic images in the history of photography. They decided to claim 50 thousands british ponds for the thievery and shares of each print, poster and publications of the photo. They met Doisneau who was a bit surprised, because in many cases people wanted to pay him to be photographed, not the opposite; his lawyer proved that the scene was arranged and the couple agreed to pose and all the claims have been rejected once and for all.

"The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street."

by: Jack Corcker

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