Louis Stettner (American, 1922 - 2016) Children, Aubervilliers, France, 1947 Photograph Gift of Paul B. Ford
“Stettner has always been fully conscious that the role of the photographer is not to turn away from all reference to reality, but on the contrary to express a profound experience with it,” said Brassaï, the famous French photographer and a lifelong friend and mentor of Louis Stettner.
Stettner began taking photographs at the age of thirteen and sustained his career for over eight decades. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II before moving to Paris in 1947, where an intended three-week trip resulted in a five-year stay. He studied at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (advanced research institute in cinematography) where he first was acquainted with Brassaï. While in Paris, Stettner received a commission to organize the first exhibition of post-war French photography in the U.S. The exhibition included prints from significant French photographers such as Izis, Boubat, and including those of Brassaï. Stettner was at the center of the post-war photography scene in Paris and an active member among Parisian contemporaries.
Children, Aubervilliers, France emanates a touch of Parisian humanism: stillness captured within suburban life and calm gazes of children filled with curiosity. Stettner’s approach to photographing everyday life integrated American boldness and Parisian sentimentality.
Stettner’s works were featured in significant exhibitions across the United States and Europe; however, the photographer is not well known to the general public. Photography critic Kelly Wise stated that “rarely is his work shown in breadth”: Stettner’s early photographs (1947 – 1972) are slowly emerging from the closed circle of Stettner’s contemporaries and distinguished collectors and earning recognition among young photographers.
-Adrienne Lee ’21