Famous French photographer Robert Doisneau, worried, talks about his cameras and sends pictures of cats to a friend.

• Handwritten letter from Robert Doisneau to “Sanfourche”.
• One page.
• In French.
• +/- 21 cm x 29 cm.
• Excellent condition.
• Unique piece.

Translated excerpts

(...) I'm happy to have heard from you, for my part I write little, as I'm totally involved with work.

(...) it helps me forget the somewhat sad situation I find myself in since my wife's illness.

(...) So I rummage through my toy box full of photography supplies.

(...) This morning, remorse led me to look for some pictures of cats that I am sending you.

Robert Doisneau was one of the most iconic photographers of the 20th century, born in France in 1912. He is widely known for his black and white photographs that captured candid moments of everyday Parisian life, especially street scenes. Doisneau worked as an industrial photographer and later as a freelancer, documenting street life with a touch of humor and sensitivity.

His best-known works, such as Le Baiser de l'Hôtel de Ville (The Kiss at the Hôtel de Ville), helped cement his career as a master of humanist photography, always seeking to show the simplicity and beauty of ordinary moments. Throughout his life, he also photographed celebrity letters and cultural events, but never lost his focus on portraying the human side of life.

Jean-Joseph Sanfourche was a French artist born in 1929 and died in 2010. He is known for his art that combines painting, sculpture, and drawing, and is associated with art brut, a movement that values ​​spontaneous artistic expression, often associated with self-taught or marginalized creators. Doisneau photographed Sanfourche on several occasions, and the two maintained a personal correspondence.

This letter is particularly interesting for several reasons. First, Doisneau mentions his “photographic material,” the main instrument of his talent, which he expressed through images. He also alludes to cats, which were one of his favorite subjects in the photographs that were so successful. The letter also contains a touch of emotion and vulnerability when talking about his wife’s illness and the emotional toll it took. The combination of intimate and photographic elements makes this correspondence a unique testimony to Doisneau’s private and creative life.