Famous photographer Willy Ronis
Willy Ronis was born on August 14th, 1910, in Paris, France. In both Paris and Provence throughout his post-war years, he had great fame. Marie-Anne Lansiaux, his wife, was his wife. While his father, Emmanuel Ronis, a cancer patient, ran a studio in Montmartre, his mother, Ida Gluck Mann, was a well-known piano teacher from Lithuania. After discovering a passion for music, Ronis was interested in becoming a composer throughout his childhood. He steadfastly pursued this aim (Gresh, 2005).
Early Career and Freelancing
Ronis had gone for military service returned home in 1932 after his father was diagnosed with cancer and his violin studies were put off since he had to take care of his family portrait business to run smoothly. His father succumbed to cancer in 1936, and the business collapsed forcing Ronis to embark on freelancing with his photographs widely published. A year later, Ronis joined Rapho which was an agency for photography with Ergy Landau, Robert Doisneau, and Brassaï as other members of the crew. His first ever photos were published by the Regard Magazine which earned him a mileage in photography. His eminent photographs in Nu Provençal which had featured his own wife as the subject matter was a milestone in his work (Hamilton & Ronis, 1995). Marie Anne had done some militant painting which favored the communists and that image was published and circulated globally and was believed to be successful.
Inspiration and Recognition
Willy Ronis got many inspirations from the shining careers of Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams and while trying to fit in the world of photography. He got the record of being the first French photographer to work with life. He was featured in the 1953 list of the best five French photographers where he participated in an exhibition with Henri Cartier-Bresson, Izis, Robert Doisneau, and Brassaï held at the museum of modern art. Arguably, Venice Biennale awarded Ronis a Gold medal in 1957, with his work being added to the retrospective, commonly known as the "family man."
Teaching Career and Recognition
In the same years of 1950's, he commenced his teaching career in Aix en Provence and Marseilles, a school of fine Arts where due to his efforts, he received the prestigious accolade of the Grand Prix des Arts et Letters in 1979 from the minister of culture in recognition of his photography works. Consequently, his photo-book named Sur le fil du hazard won him the Prix Nadar Award in 1981. Even after the invention of the hi-tech technology in color photography, Ronis used black and white technique in his work. His artwork in France showed life featured distinct thematic elements cutting across various age groups from single women to even kissing couples to depict a clear message for all ages.
Objectivity and Later Career
However, Ronis maintained his objectivity in photography. As revealed by Prime Minister Fillon, he was the best witness in the twentieth century. His work was recognized by the ministry of education during his photography engagement in more than half of the twentieth century. The Ministry awarded him with the art of photography award.
Later in his career, Ronis had produced numerous works in fashion and nude work where they got featured on famous magazines like vogue and Le Jardin des modes. He used these platforms as a way of showing his thoughts on the view of natural beauty and the due appreciation towards such beauty. In addition to magazine works, Ronis did lots of book work which were published by Taschen and made his career grow to the excellence level. His work was recognized by the Oxford Companion to photograph as good regardless of competition from other photographers. Earlier in 2001, Ronis called off his photography career due to his old age and needed a walking stick. Arguably, it was a difficult task to carry a camera and the walking stick together.
Celebration and Legacy
His glowing career in photography has been largely celebrated, for example in 2006, the city of Paris arranged a huge concert in reverence of Ronis photography works which was attended by a large number of people approximately half-a-million. In China around 2007 April, the capital museum was held in his appreciation christened "the birth of photography" which saw two exhibitions held, dubbed "France the invention of" and "in the eyes of Willy Ronnie Paris." Subsequently, in 2009, another Ronis exhibition work took place in Recontres d'Arles.
Particularly, Ronis did photography in deep observation of humanity and social life. In his life, he led to witness in 1930's French workers' movement on what he saw and had captured in his camera lenses. His presence could be clearly felt and that he was a voice for the people who took part in the movement. In the course, a mechanical watch record was seen as an indispensable aspect of justice being put in the motions. Notably, Ronis wanted the people to live a more comfortable life and work with dignity and satisfaction.
Conclusion
In summary, Ronis had gotten the exemplary fame of his works which included place Vendome of 1947, Le Petit Parisien in 1952, Rue Miller (1934), the Les Amoureux de la Bastille; Deena de dos of 1957, 1934 and 1955 respectively. He maintained his creativity and sobriety till at the dawn of September 12, 2009, when he died at the age of 99. Willy Ronis, the famous French photographer, had done a lot to reflect how Paris and Provence is famous for life (Vestberg, 2005).
References
Gresh, K. (2005). The European roots of the family of man. History of Photography, 29(4), 331-343.
Hamilton, P. and Ronis, W. (1995). Willy Ronis: Photographs, 1926-1995. Museum of Modern Art.
Vestberg, N.L. (2005). Photography as culture Memory: Imagining France in 1950’s. Journal of Romance Studies, 5(2), 75-90.
