Le 1/4/03 19:39, « DSmall9917@aol.com » <DSmall9917@aol.com> a écrit : > Doisaneaus photo of the the Kiss is no less a classic. but it was tarnlshed > when it became known that it was set up. But he had the artistic imagination > to set it up. That's why I get a little frustrated at times when some > reviewers suggest that I move or change some elements of a photo. The > spontineity of the moment would be gone or for that matter the subject is > usually Ein Taschen book : ³Photo Icon² volume 2 tells the story of that famous picture titled ³Le baiser de l¹hôtel de ville² It was taken on an assignment for Life on the theme of ³Kissing couple in Paris², for a series on ³Paris city of the lovers². Already then, there was a fear of being sued, so it was decided to hire actors. Doisneau found them in a café near a famous comedian school of Paris. In 1988 two persons : Denise und Jean-Louis Lavergne pretended to be the kissing couple and asked about 100¹000.- $ of royalties. Doisneau provided proof he had hired young actors, so they lost the trial. But then the young actors went to court too, asking royalties, but Doisneau won again, because he could proof he had paid the young actors for their performance. That is, he won the trials, but it has done quite a lot of harm to his reputation.. I for one, feel deceived to learn that it has been staged. Because the kind of photography Doisneau makes alludes to slices of real life.. It spoils something for me to discover that it wasn¹t. As a side note, other information gleaned from that book : * There were about 2.5 millions of postcards sold of that picture and about a half million of posters. * Doisneau himself has ambivalent feelings to that picture. He once admitted that it was ³superficial², ³easy to sell², that is an ³image pute² (pute means whore in French, or slag). * This picture, done on assignment for Life Magazine was issued for a series completely relaying on the cliché of easy wife in Paris; the reenacting of this cliché is one of the element which contributed to the success of this picture of Doisneau. * When his picture became famous, Doisneau received a lot post concerning that picture, many couples pretending to have been the portrayed ones, even before the two who sued him in 1988. -- Christiane
