Jacques Henri Lartigue's elegant black-and-white and color photography spans a century; this affordable volume celebrates the best of his joyful and stylish work. Jacques Henri Lartigue's carefree, joyful, and spontaneous spirit permeates his photography. And yet there are other, lesser-known aspects of his work that invite us to take a closer look. Whether capturing amusing scenes on film or sketching them on paper or canvas, the artist covered a vast range of themes. Lartigue took photographs throughout his career, almost as a matter of routine, which makes his work a vital record of his times. His style gradually evolved, influenced by artistic experiments and personal encounters. He left behind a rich and varied body of work. Albums of his private photographs provide a romanticized view of the photographer's personal life, revealing his doubts and attempts to understand his place in the world; they constitute an essential part of his body of work. Lartigue played with visual tricks, styles, and recurring themes--transportation, sports, shadow play, chic women--bridging different periods and lending consistency to his work. The selection of photographs reproduced here represents the best examples of his most popular themes.

"This book accompanies the exhibition organized at the Maison europaeenne de la Photographie in Paris from June 24 to August 23, 2015"--Title page verso.

Jacques Henri Lartigue was fascinated by the ascent of sport in the early twentieth century as a fashionable pastime for the middle classes, and was himself a keen sportsman. Lartigue's entirely unposed photographs, presented album-style in this gorgeous, luxurious and delightful volume, capture both the joyous exuberance of amateur sports--racing, skiing, tennis, gymnastics, hang gliding--and the particular character of its popularity in the first half of the twentieth century. Lartigue is an absolute master at conveying the dynamism of the human body at play--the peculiar shapes it can contort into, and the gestures that can express anything from easy nonchalance to fierce focus. These photographs also serve as a historical catalogue of the paraphernalia and smart casual clothing associated with each sport. A Sporting Life is divided into five themed chapters: "The Sportsman," "Taking the Air," "Training," "Women and Children" and "Sport as Spectacle." Here, we witness how sports were transforming social relations, introducing new opportunities for expression, especially across gender lines. In an essay, historian Thierry Terret reveals the complexity of Lartigue's technical approach to photography, and looks at the issues surrounding the rise of sport in its modern incarnation as a leisure pursuit and as commerce. In a preface, novelist Anne-Marie Garat (whose own narratives often feature the themes of photography and family) provides a personal perspective on Lartigue's sports photography, also exploring the role played by sport in the development of photography itself. The book is copublished with Hermès, in celebration of its 2013 sports theme. Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) was a French photographer and painter, most famous for his photographs of the leisure activities of France's middle and upper classes. An avid photographer from the age of seven, Lartigue gained fame for his photo albums, which provide a comprehensive chronicle of the twentieth century in France and abroad, and for his official portraits.

Photographs taken by a French boy after he received his first camera in 1902.

Study of nostalgic representations of the maternal, the home, and childhood in the literature and photographs of early-20th-century artists.