François Tuefferd (30 May 1912 – 17 December 1996) was a French photographer, active from the 1930s to the 1950s. He also ran a darkroom and gallery in Paris, ''Le Chasseur d'Images'', where he printed and exhibited the works of his contemporaries. His best-known imagery features the French circus.
Biography
Born into a well-to-do family on 30 May 1912 in
Montbéliard
Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.
History
Montbéliard is ...
(Doubs), Tuefferd was encouraged in his early interest in photography by his father, Henri Tuefferd, doctor and capable amateur photographer. His brother, Jean-Pierre, was mayor of Montbéliard from 1959 to 1965.
Tuefferd studied at the
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...
in Paris in 1920. He made his first photographs in 1925 with a
Vest Pocket Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...
and on his first trip to
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
in 1929. Resident there in 1931 he joined the 4th
Zouave
The Zouaves () were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army and other units modelled on it, which served between 1830 and 1962, and served in French North Africa. The zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army ...
s Regiment, and equipped with a
Leica Leica may refer to:
Companies
* Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into:
** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company
** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer
** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...
and a ''Spido'' press camera by L. Gaumont & Cie, he made portraits of soldiers and landscapes of the desert as well as documenting the Tunisian population, hitherto ignored by photographers.
Career
Tuefferd began exhibiting in the salons in the 1930s, including the influential XXXI Salon International D'Art Photographique (
Société Française de Photographie
The Société française de photographie (SFP) is an association, founded on 15 November 1854, devoted to the history of photography. It has a large collection of photographs and old cameras.
Among the founding members were Olympe Aguado, Hippoly ...
) in 1936, which was judged by
Laure Albin-Guillot.
On leave, he met
George Hoyningen-Huene who lent him his
Rolleiflex
Rolleiflex is a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke.
History
The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier line of med ...
to take pictures of the shooting of a parody of ''
L'Atlantide'' by
GW Pabst. Impressed by the quality of the photos, Hoyningen-Huene offered him an internship at ''
Vogue'' studios in Paris in the autumn (
Condé Nast
Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...
SA), where he worked in the studio,
darkroom
A darkroom is used to process photographic film, make Photographic printing, prints and carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including ...
and
retouching workshop on advertising and product shots. In March 1932, he left the ''Vogue'' studio and entered that of Gaston Grenier. There he set up a specialized facilities for
35 mm processing and very quickly photographers such as
Rogi André,
Ilse Bing,
Robert Capa
Robert Capa (; born Endre Ernő Friedmann, ; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist. He is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.Kershaw, Al ...
,
Ergy Landau
Ergy or Erzsy Landau (1896–1967) was a Hungarian-French humanist photographer.
Born in Budapest, Landau worked in Franz Xaver Setzer's Vienna studio and then in Rudolf Dührkoop's studio in Berlin. She had photographed the German writer Thom ...
and
Man Ray
Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...
became his clients. He photographed the liner
''SS'' ''Normandie'' in 1936.
First Paris gallery dedicated to photography
In June 1937, with an inheritance, Tuefferd opened ''Le Chasseur d'Images'' gallery at 46
rue du Bac
The Rue du Bac () is a street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The street, which is 1,150 m long, begins at the junction of the quais Quai Voltaire, Voltaire and Quai Anatole-France, Anatole-France and ends at the Rue de Sèvres.
Rue du Bac ...
, the first Paris gallery dedicated to photography in which he showed both known and unknown photographers.
Emmanuel Sougez was first to exhibit there in June 1937. German photographer
Herbert List pinned his prints directly to the wall as it was customary in the photo galleries of the time.
Bill Brandt
Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt ; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalism, photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his ...
, Max Del, and
Ilse Bing, also held solo shows there.
''Le Chasseur d'Images'' also presented the original illustrations of ''Arts et Métiers Graphiques'' "Photographie" albums from 1938 to 1939. On January 25, 1938, the gallery held the first salon of the professional photographers association
Le Rectangle
Le Rectangle was a professional association of French illustration and advertising photographers created in 1937 and disbanded in 1946 to be replaced by Le Groupe des XV.
Context
In the first half of the twentieth century France, after Germany, ...
, which included Pierre Adam, Marcel Arthaud, Serge Boiron, Louis Caillaud,
Yvonne Chevalier, André Garban, Sandro Guida,
Pierre Jahan, Henri Lacheroy, and René-Leon Servant, whose founder was Sougez, and in 1939 presented the Modernist photography club, Le Noir et Blanc, successor to the Rolleiclub. The gallery could present up to 150 30 × 40 cm prints and photographs were sold for 100
Franc
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
s. Shows rarely exceeded two weeks in duration and on opening nights the gallery provided an invaluable rendezvous for photographers. Mobilization for war in September 1939 brought an end to the enterprise.
Exhibitions at Chasseur d'Images
1937
* 16 June – 5 July: Emmanuel Sougez
* 9 July – 30 July: Herbert List
* 5 October – 20 October: Max Del
* 17–30 November: Sandro Guida
* 2–10 November: ''Arts et métiers graphiques''; original prints from the volume ''Photographie 1938''
* 3–24 December: Alain-M.Duchemin: ''100 photos d'ici et d'ailleurs''
1938
* 25 January – 10 February: ''
Le Rectangle
Le Rectangle was a professional association of French illustration and advertising photographers created in 1937 and disbanded in 1946 to be replaced by Le Groupe des XV.
Context
In the first half of the twentieth century France, after Germany, ...
: first salon.'' Pierre Adam, Marcel Arthaud, Serge Boiron, Louis Caillaud,
Yvonne Chevalier, André Garban,
Pierre Jahan, Henri Lacheroy,
Gaston Paris
Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (; 9 August 1839 – 5 March 1903) was a French literary historian, philologist, and scholar specialized in Romance studies and medieval French literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, ...
, Philippe Pottier,
Emmanuel Sougez, Jean Roubier, René Servant
* 27 April – 14 May: Paul Kowaliski
* May: François Tuefferd
* 15–25 June: E. Haack: ''Un journaliste se promène'' 130 photos
* 27 June – 14 July: Bill Brandt: ''London by Night''
* 4–15 November: ''Arts et Métiers Graphiques; Photographies 1939.'' Original prints from the volume published by Arts et Métiers Graphiques
1939
* 27 March – 15 April Ilse Bing: ''Impressions de New-York''
* 28 April – 15 May Yvonne Chevalier, Pierre Jahan, Philippe Pottier, members of the group ''Rectangle''
* May: François Tuefferd: Photos of Tunisia
* 27 May – 12 June ''Le Noir et Blanc Exposition annuelle du Club moderne de Photographie,'' conference on "photography in colour" led by Paul Kowaliski, who had shown in ''Photography 1839–1937'' March 17–April 18, 1937 at
MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, New York, and who in 1951 would write, with Jean Dourgnon, the seminal ''La reproduction des couleurs''.
In October 1940, he returned to Paris and devoted himself to documenting, in a
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
mode, the world of the circus that visited Paris every year and in which he found a unique subject, a world of its own redolent of Old Paris, and for years photographed trapeze artists seen from below, spotlit against a dark background and gasping spectators craning their necks, as well as behind-the-scenes vignettes of circus performers applying makeup, practicing, eating and training animals. An instance of his empathy for his subjects photographing circuses occurred when a clown was very sick; he took on the role himself for a week during which time he made a self-portrait as a clown.
He was stills photographer for Pathé-Cinéma's ''Port d'attache'' and ''
Le Secret de Madame Clapain.'' For the publisher Prisma, he wrote the practical component of a photography correspondence course and articles for ''L'Agenda Prisma.''
Postwar in France and Tunisia
In 1945, after making documentaries for the tourist commission, Tuefferd went back to Tunisia to shoot documentary films on
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
, on the island of
Djerba
Djerba (; , ; ), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. Administratively, it is part of Medenine Governorate. The island h ...
, in
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661� ...
, and a falcon hunt. Banned in Paris from continuing his professional practice during the
Régime de Vichy, he went to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to reunite with his artist friends, among them
Alexander Calder
Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...
whom he had met in Tunisia.
In 1946, he helped co-found the influential
Le Groupe des XV
''Le Groupe des XV'' was a collective founded in 1946 by fifteen (hence its name) French humanist photographers who exhibited annually in Paris until 1957. Its objective was to have photography recognised as an art form in its own right, and to us ...
with René Servant,
Marcel Bovis,
Lucien Lorelle
Lucien Lorelle (December 29, 1894 – February 26, 1968) was a French portraitist, publicist, humanist photographer, author, painter, a member of Le Groupe des XV and founder of the photography company Central Color.
Biography
Lucien Lorelle, was ...
, Jean Séeberger, and Emmanuel Sougez.
In 1949, he returned to France and resumed his work on the circus
He contributed photography to the journals ''L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui,'' ''Le Courrier des métiers d'art,'' ''Métiers de France.''
Life in America
In the early 1950s Tuefferd lived for a time in
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...
, NH and photographed in the US, and in 1955 was included by
Edward Steichen
Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...
in the seminal world-touring ''
The Family of Man'' that commenced at the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
.
In the midst of a snowstorm on
Mt Cardigan, NH, in 1968 met his wife-to-be Helen (née McDougall, 17 February 1932 – 30 April 2016) who was a member of the
Appalachian Mountain Club
Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., wit ...
, participating in
White Mountain hike
Though for a time he relinquished photography to work in electronics in the United States he resumed again in 1992.
[Catalogue 1993 Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris. ]
He died on December 17, 1996, and was survived by his wife Helen, and his two sons, Max and Nanook.
The
Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires (France), Musée National des Arts et Traditions posthumously showed his circus imagery in an exhibit in 1999 entitled ''François Tuefferd: "Le cirque", photographs 1933-1954.'' A catalogue of his circus work was published by la
Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
Collections
*
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
Exhibitions
* 1998,
Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires
* 2002,
Bibliothèque historique de la ville de Paris, ''Regard sur le cirque,'' 11 June - 15 September
* 2007, Bibliothèque nationale de France
* 2008, BDIC (collective)
Bibliography
* ''1945-1968 La photographie humaniste.'' Bibliothèque Nationale de France with the direction of Laure Beaumont-Maillet, Françoise Denoyelle and Dominique Versavel.
*''François Tuefferd: Le Cirque ....' RMN, 1999. .
* ''Une histoire de la photographie.'' M.+M.Auer.
* ''La Nouvelle Photographie en France 1919-1939.'' By Christian Bouqueret in collaboration with Tuefferd.
* ''François Tuefferd, Chasseur d'Images.'' By Thomas Michael Gunther. Paris Bibliothèques, 1993.
* ''Le Cirque de François Tuefferd Photographies de 1933 à 1954.'' Musée National des Arts et Traditions Populaires, Réunion des Musées Bationaux, 1998. .
* ''La Merveilleuse Histoire du Cirque.'' By Henry Thétard. Prisma, 1947.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuefferd, Francois
1912 births
1996 deaths
French photojournalists
French curators
Humanist photographers