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On October 14, Waseda’s School of Culture Media and Society hosted an event that looked back on the works and life of world-renowned French photographer Robert Doisneau. The event held at Ono Auditorium was part of Waseda’s yearly Waseda Culture and Arts Festival.

At the auditorium’s entrance, curator Miyuki Endo from the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography provided commentary on Doisnaeu and distributed a timeline chronicling his life. Attendees also received postcards featuring Doisnaeu’s works. To commemorate the event, the Toyama Campus student co-op set up a special display area where students could look at albums and essays from Doisnaeu.

The event opened with a live reading of Doisnaeu’s essays (in Japanese) by Professor Futoshi Sakauchi from the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences. While Sakauchi read Doisnaeu’s essays, the photographer’s works were projected onto a large screen. The French television company Arte covered the event for a documentary on Doisnaeu that is currently in production.

Following the readings, Professor Toshiyuki Horie (Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences) came on stage to talk about when he first came across Doisnaeu’s works in 1994 when he was beginning his career as an author. Horie told the audience that Doisnaeu left a deep impression on him, not only as a photographer but as a writer as well. Horie discussed Doisnaeu’s professional history as a woodblock printmaker and later a draughtsman (lettering artist) at an advertising company before becoming a staff photographer. Horie read a passage from his debut novel “To the Suburbs” that references Doisnaeu’s works and his hometown of Gentilly located outside of Paris.

Next was a live reading of a Doisnaeu essay by actor and voice actor Hozumi Goda. Goda’s reading captured the emotion, boldness, and frankness of Doisnaeu and received great applause from the audience.

In the second half of the event, Doisnaeu’s granddaughter and well-known author, editor, and curator Clementine Deroudille, discussed the everyday life of her grandfather. “I am blessed to have been born Doisnaeu’s granddaughter. My grandfather’s home was close by so I would go there for dinner almost every day. There was always a camera close by and I could constantly hear shuttering noises as my grandfather took pictures. There were times when our family would go out for a walk and my grandfather would turn the occasion into a photoshoot. Family trips became the perfect opportunities for photos. My grandfather interacted with many cultural icons such as actress Juliette Binoche and photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. My grandfather loved fishing and he would engage in this pastime very often,” said Deroudille as she recalled various episodes of her grandfather and their interactions together.

The event closed with a witty and charming dialogue between Professor Fumio Chiba (Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences) and Deroudille. Deroudille answered questions from the audience and shed light on how her grandfather carefully preserved his works, and how as a photographer, he used Paris as a stage for bringing his own unique world to life.