Willy Ronis: Difference between revisions

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'''Willy Ronis''' ({{IPA-|fr|wili ʁɔnis|lang}}; 14 August 14, 1910{{spaced ndash}}12 September 12, 2009<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/12/world/AP-EU-France-Obit-Ronis.html Top French Photographer Willy Ronis Dead at 99]" Associated Press, 12 September 12, 2009.</ref>) was a French [[photographer]]. His best-known work shows life in post-war [[Paris]] and [[Provence]].

Ronis was born in [[Paris]]; histo Jewish immigrants. His father, Emmanuel Ronis,<ref name="Willy Ronis">{{cite web|title=Willy Ronis|url=https://www.whoswho.fr/decede/biographie-willy-ronis_46322|website=Who's Who In France|accessdate=3 May 2015}}</ref> was a [[Jewish]] [[refugee]] from [[Odessa]], and his mother, Ida Gluckmann,<ref name="Willy" Ronis"/> was a refugee from [[Lithuania]], both escaped from the [[pogroms]]. His father opened a photography studio in [[Montmartre]], and his mother gave piano lessons.<ref>[http://www.hackelbury.co.uk/artists/ronis/ronis.html Hackel Bury Fine Art - Willy Ronis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801050847/http://www.hackelbury.co.uk/artists/ronis/ronis.html |date=August 1, 2012 }}</ref> The boy's early interest was music and he hoped to become a composer. Ronis' passion for music has been observed in his photographs.<ref name="ocp">"Willy Ronis" by Peter Hamilton, in ''The Oxford Companion to the Photograph,'' ed. Robin Lenman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005; {{ISBN|0-19-866271-8}}).</ref>

Returning from compulsory military service in 1932, his violin studies were put on hold because his father's [[cancer]] required Ronis to take over the family portrait business. The work of the photographers, [[Alfred Stieglitz]] and [[Ansel Adams]] inspired Ronis to begin exploring artistic photography.<ref name=Ro>[{{cite web|url=http://rogallery.com/Ronis_Willy/RonisWilly-Bio.html |title=Willy Ronis - Biography]|website=rogallery.com|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref> His father died in 1936, whereupon Ronis sold the business and set up as a freelance photographer,<ref name="grimes-times" /> his first work being published in ''[[Regards]].''<ref name="chrono55">Untitled chronology, ''Willy Ronis 55'' (London: Phaidon, 2002; {{ISBN|0-7148-4167-6}}), pp. 126&ndash;127.</ref>

In 1937 he met [[David Seymour (photographer)|David Seymour]] and [[Robert Capa]], and did his first work for ''[[Plaisir de France]]''; in 1938&ndash;39 he reported on a strike at [[Citroën]] and traveled in the Balkans.<ref name="chrono55" /> With [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]], Ronis belonged to [[Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires]], and remained a man of thepolitical [[left (politics)|leftleftist]].<ref name="ocp" /> In 1946 Ronis joined the photo agency [[Rapho (agency)|Rapho]], with [[Brassaï]], [[Robert Doisneau]] and [[Ergy Landau]].,<ref name=Ro/> and was instrumental in forming the professional association [[Le Groupe des XV]], and later joined [[Les 30 x 40]], Club Photographique de Paris. Ronis became the first French photographer to work for ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]].''<ref name=Ro/>

Despite stiff competition from Robert Doisneau and others, Ronis was named by the ''Oxford Companion to the Photograph'' terms Ronis "the photographer of Paris par excellence".<!-- and no, it doesn't italicize the last bit --><ref name="ocp" />

In 1953, [[Edward Steichen]] included Ronis, [[Henri Cartier-Bresson|Cartier-Bresson]], [[Robert Doisneau]], [[Izis Bidermanas|Izis]], and [[Brassaï]] in an exhibition at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] titled ''Five French Photographers.''<ref name="chrono55" /> In 1955, Ronis was included in ''[[The Family of Man]]'' exhibition. The [[Venice Biennale]] awarded him its Gold Medal in 1957.<ref name="chrono55" /> Ronis began teaching in the 1950s, and taught at the School of Fine Arts in [[Avignon]], [[Aix-en-Provence]] where he met Pierre-Jean Amar and Saint Charles, Marseilles. In 1979 he was awarded the [[Grand Prix des Arts et Lettres]] for Photography by the Minister for Culture.<ref name="chrono55" /> Ronis won the [[Prix Nadar]] in 1981 for his photobook, ''Sur le fil du hasard.''<ref name="chrono55" />

In 2005–2006 the [[Hôtel de Ville, Paris|Paris city hall]] held ''Willy Ronis in Paris,'' a retrospective exhibition of his work, that had more than 500,000 visitors.<ref name="paris"/> There was also an exhibition at [[Rencontres d'Arles]] festival, Arles, France, in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rencontres-arles-photo.tv/artiste/ronis-willy/|title=RONIS, Willy|website=Médiathèque des Rencontres d'Arles|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2009/08/10/03004-20090810ARTFIG00209-willy-ronis-la-photographie-exhibitionniste-me-derange-.php|title=Willy Ronis&nbsp;: "La photographie exhibitionniste me dérange"|date=August 10, 2009|publisher=|accessdate=April 12, 2018}}</ref>

Ronis died at age 99, on 12 September 12, 2009.<ref name="hopkinson-guardian" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/6179580/French-photographer-Willy-Ronis-dies.html|title=French photographer Willy Ronis dies|date=September 12, 2009|publisher=|accessdate=April 12, 2018|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="grimes-times">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/arts/design/18ronis.html|title=Willy Ronis, Photographer of Parisian Street Life, Dies at 99|first=William|last=Grimes|work=The New York Times |date=September 17, 2009|publisher=|accessdate=April 12, 2018|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/22/AR2009092204117.html|title=Willy Ronis, 99; Celebrated French Photojournalist|first=T. Rees|last=Shapiro|date=September 23, 2009|publisher=|accessdate=April 12, 2018|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref>

*''Willy Ronis.'' Paris: [[Centre national de la photographie]], 1991. {{ISBN|2-86754-066-6}}.

== External links ==

[[Category:20th-century French Jews]]

[[Category:ArtistsPhotographers from Paris]]