French photographer Willy Ronis (1910-2009) was a pioneer of humanist photography, a movement which emerged in France after the horrors of World War II, seeking to document the human condition and everyday life’s essence with authenticity, warmth and empathy.

On the occasion of Boogie Woogie Photography’s latest exhibition, Capturing Life: The Photography of Willy Ronis, from 16 September to 21 October, we wanted to shed a light on the iconic photographer, his life and human values.

Willy Ronis, Self-Portrait, 1951

Born in 1910 in Paris, in a family of Jewish immigrants who escaped Eastern Europe pogroms, Willy Ronis initially dreamed to become a composer. He was studying music while helping his father in the family photography studio in Montmartre. In 1932, Ronis had to take over the studio after the sudden illness of his father.

In 1936, after the passing of his father, Ronis sold the family business and decided to become a photographer, outside of commercial needs. He did his first photo-reportage on 14 July 1936 (Bastille Day) two months after the Popular Front, an alliance of left-wing parties, won the French legislative election. Ronis felt close to the people aspirations and the Communist Party, of which he became a member for twenty years. His photographs were exploring the life of “popular classes” and workers, through picket lines or trade union meetings.

Ronis spent much of World War II living discreetly in the South of France to avoid the arrests and deportations of Jews. After Paris liberation in the summer of 1944, Ronis returned to the city with his wife, painter Marie-Anne Lansiaux. He started to collaborate with New York Magazine and became the first French photographer to work for LIFE magazine.

Willy Ronis, The Provencal Nude, Gordes 1949. Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography and the S.Kovalsky collection

Le Nu Provençal (The Provencal Nude) is probably Ronis’ most famous photograph, a spontaneous and tender picture featuring his wife bending over a sink in their rustic Provence home during the summer of 1949.

In the 50s, Ronis was part of the Parisian group of documentary photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, Izis, and Robert Doisneau. They were all featured in the MoMA’s Five French Photographers exhibition in New York in 1951 and 1952.

Ronis’ aim was to capture simple pleasures of everyday life with empathy and compassion, never focusing on suffering, but embodying the French term of joie de vivre. About his work, Ronis said, “ The beauty of the ordinary was always the source of my greatest emotions.”

Willy Ronis, The Little Parisian, 1952. Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography and the S.Kovalsky collection

In one of his most iconic images, Le Petit Parisien (The Little Parisian), taken in 1952, Ronis depicts a young French boy running joyfully with a baguette under his arm.

Despite how cliché it could be perceived, lovers appear in many of Ronis’ pictures. “Why deprive yourself of the pleasure?” Ronis wrote. “Every time I encounter lovers, my camera smiles.”

Shot in 1957, Les Amoureux de la Bastille (Lovers at the Bastille) is among Ronis’ most famous photographs, featuring a loving couple overlooking Paris. The picture not only captures a sweet moment between two lovers but also the city’s architectural symbols, the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame, illustrating the idea of Paris as a city for lovers.

Willy Ronis, Lovers of the Bastille, Paris 1957. Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography and the S.Kovalsky collection

Ronis published about forty books between 1951 and 2008 and was part of many exhibitions worldwide. In 1981, he won the Prix Nadar for his photo book Le Fil du Hasard.

In 1983 and 1989, Ronis bequeathed his photographic work to France, appointing four executors to hold the moral rights. His grandson, Stéphane Kovalsky, inherited the reserved portion.

The French Heritage and Photography Media Library now holds the entire body of his work: 82,000 negatives, 6,000 colour slides, 18,000 prints, 6 albums containing 590 reference prints, 26 archival boxes, 720 library volumes, and 400 periodical volumes!

Until his death in 2009 at the age of 99, Ronis remained listed in the phone book, so anyone could call him. The door of his modest apartment in the 20th arrondissement of Paris was open to all. Addressing everyone equally with the informal French pronoun “tu”, Willy Ronis was the epitome of humanist photographer.