In 1962, Lartigue sailed to America for the first time; fascinated, he even hoped to settle there. Poor and free, Jacques and Florette chose a freighter that would take them to Los Angeles. From there, they planned to discover the California desert, but due to problems with space on the boat, they were forced to stop […]
To his great excitement, Lartigue discovered color photography at the age of 17, first through the technique invented by Lippmann, and later through another marketed by the Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis. “Monsieur Aubert [my math teacher] showed me a color photo! I nearly became dizzy thinking about my photos. If only I could make […]
To capture reality, Lartigue had two techniques at his disposal: stereoscopy, which recreates the illusion of depth using a camera with two separate lenses; and later, for color, Autochrome plates, on the market as of 1907. In 1902, Lartigue’s father, a keen amateur photographer, lent his eight-year-old son a Gaumont Stereo-Spido camera that used 6 […]
Rite of passage Jacques Henri Lartigue was not destined to be a war hero. Up until his enlistment in the auxiliary services in 1916, his journal entries convey a sense of guilt for his happiness during troubled times. In August 1914, for instance, he wrote : « We’re as happy as can be here in […]
Paris : « The war is far, far away… » Everyday life was disrupted by war — bombings are a prime example — but it did not seem to affect Jacques’ Parisian social life. He made reference to Paris in his January 1915 diary entry : « War : luckily it”s not as big of […]
Misunderstanding Jacques Henri Lartigue never experienced war firsthand; rather, he observed it from afar. The discrepancy between what he imagined war to be and its gruesome reality is troubling. Rather than attending school, Jacques was tutored at home. Hence, he was never exposed to the widespread belligerent and vindictive propaganda in French schools during […]
« August 1st 1914: General mobilisation is declared » Jacques Henri Lartigue was on holiday with close friends and family at the family estate in Rouzat in August 1914 when he heard that war had been declared. At first, he and his brother Zissou were not worried, since they were both exempt from military service. Life […]
It’s nearly impossible to think of Lartigue’s photographs without this particular one coming to mind; it is often referred to simply as The racecar, making it a sort of Lartigue « logo ». The image embodies the characteristics inherent to Lartigue’s work, such as movement, vitality, modernism and beauty. Lartigue’s interest in automobile racing began […]
Mediterranean Sea, September 12th, 1927. Having a motor car in this landscape is magical… the drive to Cannes along the narrow, deserted little road that follows the coastline via Golfe Juan is wonderful. A motionless sea falling asleep in the sunset with its eyes still open. Diaries, Cap d’Antibes, May 1921.
A lens shifts into focus; it is blurry before and after. So lovely at the moments just before and just after; too precise once the camera is perfectly focused. Beauty is destroyed by precision. Journal, June 21, 1926, Paris.
