De Franse Rivièra

Everyday life and human interaction along the French Riviera in the 1950s form the subject of this travel photobook, picturing people in the street, at home, at work, and at leisure. Working in the post-war tradition of French humanist reportage alongside photographers such as Robert Doisneau, Édouard Boubat, and Izis, Dutch physician and photographer Nico Jesse approached individuals from all walks of life with respect and personal involvement, regardless of their social standing or circumstances. His background as a general practitioner before turning full-time to photography in the mid-1950s helped him move with ease across every layer of society. Shooting with a 35mm camera and frequent flash, Jesse produced unforced images often marked by motion blur. The writer Willem Frederik Hermans, who worked as Jesse's photographic assistant in 1957, observed that he approached his models as if they had called for him, while his friend, the painter and photographer Paul Citroen, remarked that Jesse seized life by the scruff of the neck with his camera. The photographs are accompanied by text from Jaap Romijn as part of Jesse's 1950s series of books on European cities and regions.