Sunday 2 October 2011

Paris and french style...


… during the WWII





























Kodachromes you could see on this post are extract to 270 photos Andre Zucca took during the German Occupation of Paris was shown collectively to the public for the first time. They were deliberately pedestrian: velo-taxis waiting for customers, bicyclists, well-dressed citizens strolling along the boulevards and in the parks, commuters in the Metro, crowed cafes, nightclubs and swimming pools full of young fashionable people. But all these photos challenged the collective memory reinforced by movies and books: the Paris under the German Occupation was a dreary place, black-and-white hell of hunger, humiliation and resistance.



17 comments:

  1. Awesome pics !!! I hope they will edit a book about the exhibit !!!

    BTW, seems that the seats from the "Luxembourg garden" don't move from their place since then ! Amazing !

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  2. i do know and understand that it was not your initial intent, but being that legendary pain in the ass ,i must say that zucca being one of the official photographer for" SIGNAL "the nazi propaganda magazine [aka the german LIFE mag] brings a sour note to that post .....it's not really glamourous to me ,if i may !! ? let's not forget that showing life under nazi occupation, as if "it was business as usual" was his bread and butter and he was generously payed to perpetuate the myth .i think i'll stick to Steinchen and Capa anytime......i still love you

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  3. For MAtt… Viva is good too…
    For PAtrick : Big propaganda about this exibition of Zucca's work at PAris few years ago and about the origin of the order of those photos. No politic at all in my choice of course… only style !!!! I know that you still live in the "seabees word" and WWII is not really end ;-) but FCC is just a poet of style… only style !!!!

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  4. Well put Arnaud, there is a time for politics and a time for style and you are most definitely a man of STYLE. That said, the PITA has a point and it deserves to be shared. I tip my cap to your sense of style and also to Patrick's knowledge of history and willingness to call them as he sees them.

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  5. Thanks a lot warren. I'm definitly near your philisophy… I'm not serious enough to talk about serious things !

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  6. no sweat guys !.got you from the beginning Arnaud i was just a little upset .that's all !!

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  7. La chaussure Pétain: en vente libre en pays occupé

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  8. Avec semelle elastane silencieuse…
    spécial couvre-feu…

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  9. peut etre le connais tu deja ,sinon voici un lien [ci dessous] qui te presente un bouquin sur l'occupation ,ecrit pour mon ami FRED FINEL en 1994 et auquel j'ai eu le plaisir de participer en pretant un max d'objets: livres disques ,uniforms et j'en passe .....c'est un petit bouquin tres original dans son approche du sujet mais aussi dans sa conception .un bel objet de reference qui aussi remet bien les choses dans leur contexte
    http://www.ina.fr/art-et-culture/litterature/video/CPC94005394/gerard-et-frederic-finel-rappelez-vous-44.fr.html

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  10. Does the girl who wear swasties western studded belt could said something ? :)))

    Difficult to compare the great Cappa and the Zecca work under influence of course, but even if "history" is shaped by Zecca to show how frenchs are happy like lil monkeys under the nazi ocuppation. This historic testimony is so interresting about the material culture and fashion. And also, these pic show in color how was our grand parents life during war.


    Bien vu la semelle en élastane, humour très british pour notre dandy français préféré !!! ;)

    Now, i want to buy a book about Cappa....

    Big Mama

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  11. dear ANONYMOUS :it's Capa and Zucca .not to be confused of course with CAPPA AND ZECCA the famous clown team ......just kidding
    Miss O achete le petit livre de mon pote "rapellez vous 44"ca devrait te parler .

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  12. Muah ah ha ha ha ha j'ai mis 2 "p" à Capa muah ha ha ha c'est tout moi. Ya rien à faire j'veux toujours lui coller 2 "P" à Robert !!!!

    Je fais la faute depuis 15 ans, dans 15 minutes j'aurai oublié :s ha ha ha !! Mais l'idée de mettre Cappa le clown au milieu de la discussion me plait bien ;)

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  13. hello Arnaud, la photo de mon grand-père a du se glisser par erreur dans ta sélection Paris! C'est le monsieur juste en dessous des prostituées.(!)
    Je viens, dans le cadre de mon boulot, de monter une expo qui rend hommage à un modeste photographe de rue de ma ville qui plantait son appareil tous les jours au même endroit. résultat, une galerie assez immense de monsieurs-et-madames-tout-le-monde durant la seconde guerre. Je t'enverrai la sélection.
    @+

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  14. Splendidement votre, Josef
    www.jeunesseoblige.com

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