Robert Delpire

author

French^[1] b. 24 January 1926, Paris, France^[1] d. 26 September 2017, Paris, France^[1] active 1950–2017

Robert Delpire (1926–2017) was a prominent French art publisher, editor, curator, and film producer specializing in documentary photography. He began his career as a medical student before founding the cultural journal 'Neuf' in 1950. In 1955, he established Delpire & Co, which became a significant publishing house for major photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, and Josef Koudelka. Delpire was instrumental in elevating photography to an art form through his curated publications and exhibitions. He served as the director of the Centre National de la Photographie (now le Jeu de Paume) from 1982 to 1996 and founded the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in 2002. His democratic approach to photography, notably through the 'Photo Poche' collection, aimed to make high-quality photographic works accessible to a wide audience.^[1,2]

• documentary photography
• art publishing
• curation