Jacques Henri Lartigue

The ninety years during which Lartigue lived almost coincided with the advance and perfection of the camera and the recognition of photography as art. The fact that Lartigue was an amateur and always able to choose his subjects made his range extremely varied, from intimate close-ups - almost portraits- of his beautiful companions, to delightfully sensitive pictures of not much more than shadows on the snow. It is a fascinating contradiction that though his pictures were never meant to be more than personal photographs, his passion and verve in creating - often unconsciously- such alluring images have turned many of these 'snaps' into enduring classics. 

 

Lartigue was most prolific with his camera in the twenties and early thirties; many of his pictures remain of historical value as a unique and stylish record of those days. Lartigue also recorded the development of sport (both on land and sea) and i feel such pictures can only become more fascinating as our new century progresses. His passion for the active life is clearly witnessed through the energy of his vision, and during the winter months this energy was unabated. Through the seasons, Lartigue's photographs glow with an inimitable joie de vivre, portraying a life that many of us can only dream of.