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Lartigues interest partially stemmed from his father who taught him about photography

from as early as the year 1900 and due to his enthusiasm his father brought him his first

camera when he was at the very young age of just 8 years old. This triggered the endless

coverage of his childhood, including automobile outings, family holidays and especially

his older brother Maurices (nicknamed Zissou) inventions.

However, ever mindful of the passing of time, photography was not quite enough to

capture his childhood memories. A snapshot could not encompass all there is to say and

to remember. So he began to keep a journal and continued to do so for the rest of his

life. Lartigue photographed everyone he came in contact with, yet his many muses

being his three wives, and his mistress. In 1930 he met the sultry Ren Perle, before

divorcing from his previous wife Madeleine, a Romanian model who became his lover

and muse for several years (shown in the pictures below). His many portraits of Perle

document his ardent obsession with her physical appearance. In his diary he wrote: The

small mouth with the full painted lips! The ebony black eyes. From under her fur coat

comes a warmth of perfume. The head looks petite on her long neck.

For many years he thrived in high societies and luxury until the beginning of the 1930s

until the decline of the Lartigues fortune which forced him to search for other sources

of income. However he didnt want to take on a steady job and thus lose his freedom,

and so he scarcely got by with his painting during the 30s and 40s. In the beginning of

the 1950s and not in accordance with the legend in which he is a complete unknown,

his work as a photographer became noticed.

In 1962 he embarked on a cargo ship to Los Angeles with his third wife Florette, where

they stopped on the East Coast to meet Charles Rado of the Rapho Agency who in turn

contacted John Szwarkoski, MoMas (The Museum of Modern Art) photography

department young curator. From there Lartigues first retrospective of his work was

held in Paris Muse des Arts Dcoratifs in 1975. One year earlier, Lartigue was

commissioned by the President of France Valry Giscard dEstaing to shoot an official

portrait photograph. In 1979 the Donation Agreement was signed and Lartigue beame

the first living French photographer to donate his work to the nation, authorising the

Association des Amis de Jacques Henri Lartigue to preserve and promote the fund. In

1980, his dream of finally having his own museum comes true with the Grand Palais

exhibit Bonjour Monsieur Lartigue. Lartigue continued his work as a photographer,

painter and writer until he died in Nice on September 12th 1986 at he age of 92 years

old.

Lartigue was a truly captivating photographer who left a remarkable legacy behind of

about 100 000 snapshots, 7 000 pages of diary and 1 500 paintings. Shown below are

two BBC programs the first is entitled The boy who never grew up which is a

documentary all about Lartigues staggering life, where photographers like John

Swannell and Sean Ellis talk about his work and contribution to photography, which is

presented by photographer Nick Danziger. The second is from the series called Masters

of Photography, which is a in-depth look with Lartigue at his work through his nine

decades of dedication to document his life.