PHOTOACTIVISM: POLITICAL ICONOGRAPHY IN FRANCE, 1944-1968 Nir Avissar Tel Aviv, Israel Master of Arts, Tel Aviv University, 2008 Bachelor of Arts. Tel Aviv University, 2005 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Virginia July, 2016 © 2016 Nir Avissar Abstract The aim of this dissertation is to provide a critical history of French reportage photography in the decades following the Second World War, beginning with the Liberation in 1944 and ending in May ’68. During the Trente Glorieuses, reportage photography became an integral part of the media, which operated as the central platform for engaging the public in political discourse. My research explores how, during this era of mass communication, the photographic medium participated in the nation’s political life in concrete historical circumstances. In the course of this investigation, I inspect both the material, thematic, and formal strategies photographers employed to produce images in different political contexts, and the publication history of their works (who published their images, in what format, and for what purposes). The dissertation thus examines the role reportage photography played in promoting political discourse in France by visually engaging the most critical historical processes the nation was undergoing: modernization, democratization, and decolonization. At the same time, it also analyzes the reciprocal impact that changing political climate had on reportage photography. Specifically, it provides an historical account of the multiple causes that effected during the 1960s the displacement of humanist photography by photojournalism as the medium’s prominent current. This study rejects the notion that reportage photography was a neutral and passive mirroring of political life. By coining the term “photoactivism” I thus intend to designate reportage photographers’ constantly active engagement with political discourse, both as visual witnesses and as participating actors in (re)framing the nation’s self-perception and political culture. Beholding momentous historical events, I contend, photographers forged varying iconographic attitudes at different points in time to bridge, or otherwise bring out, the discrepancies between what the dominant discourse allowed for and what it excluded from its bounds. While in the reconstruction years the state and civil society were relatively aligned i with one another, during the 1960s they became increasingly antagonistic. Reportage photographers thus found themselves caught between the hammer of the state and the anvil of civil society, having to maneuver between opposite ends of the political spectrum, and meet the demands of various institutions without foregoing their own views and social commitments. The dissertation takes part of the historiographical current known as the “visual turn,” which expands historical research by incorporating substantial ocular sources and treating them in novel ways, while addressing the methodological challenges they pose. My thorough inspection of the iconographic output and representational platforms of prominent photoactivists promises to shed light on the constitutive role reportage photography has played in French political culture. It also affords a demonstration of the significance of political history for the evolution of reportage photography. ii Acknowledgments During my studies, which were oftentimes characterized by intellectual vagabondage and doubt, I was not at all sure whether this research project would ever reach the finishing line. Choosing to explore an unconventional topic and struggling at times to explain why it merited greater historical scrutiny, further complicated things. I can therefore say with certainty that the project ultimately came to fruition thanks to a large group of people, who supported, guided, and inspired me on this long and winding road. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my original adviser, Lenard R. Berlanstein, who taught me most of what I know about French history and inspired me to pursue my project. My deepest appreciation goes to my subsequent research advisers, Sophia Rosenfeld and Alon Confino, who generously offered much needed encouragement, support, and constructive criticism after Lenny’s death. Thank you to Allan Megill and Alison Levine for their enlightening comments on the manuscript. I have also greatly benefited from the various seminars I took with the faculty of the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia. In particular, I am deeply grateful to Joseph C. Miller, who taught me to think and write historically. The University of Virginia has provided me with extensive scholarly and financial support during nearly the entire length of the PhD degree. I benefitted from its various resources, including the fellowship in partnership with the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, followed by the Dumas Malone Graduate Research fellowship to complete research in France. The Summer Research Grant by the University’s Society of Fellows enabled me to conduct further archival work in the United States and Switzerland. And UVA’s cooperation with the Mellon Foundation also gave me the opportunity to participate in a doctoral writing seminar and complete the first chapter under the sensitive and sage guidance of John D. Lyons. iii The work on this project led to a fruitful intellectual exchange with scholars from other academic institutions who greatly contributed to its evolving. Vanessa Schwartz from USC kindly offered thorough comments on most chapters. Photography historian Françoise Denoyelle from Paris-I Sorbonne and ENS Louis-Lumière not only invited me to participate in her Histoire et photographie seminar and guided parts of my research, but was also an important contributor to my dissertation committee. My friend and colleague Yann Scioldo- Zürcher from the CNRS offered much valued support. Special thanks go to my friend and mentor Dan Diner from the Hebrew University and the Simon Dubnow Institute, whose original thinking and phenomenal knowledge of European history was immensely inspiring as I revised the manuscript’s multiple drafts. One of the major benefits of conducting research in France was that it put me into contact with a large group of wonderfully kind and generous people. BNF curator Dominique Versavel gave me access to the archives and collections of the Département des Estampes et de la photographie in Richelieu. At the BNF site in Tolbiac, Henja Vlaadringerbroek assisted me in tracing the most obscure of publications. In the Bibliothèque Documentation Internationale Contemporaine at Hôtel des Invalides and Nanterre, Caroline Apostolopoulos and Rosa Olmos helped me find and use the library’s photographic and audio-visual sources. Lucie Moriceau from the Etablissement de Communication et de Production Audiovisuelle de la Défense at Fort d’Ivry kindly provided assistance locating all the relevant military photographic records from the Algerian War. Special thanks to Geneviéve Dieuzeide and Béatrice Kalaydjian, who opened up the collections of the Documentation française and shared their professional experiences with me. Journalist Michel Puech gave me free access to his private archive of the Association Nationale des Journalistes Reporters Photographes. At Gamma photo agency, Mohamed Lounes helped me locate the agency’s publications during the spring and summer of 1968. Marianne Montely-Caron from the Fondation Gilles Caron in iv Dijon offered invaluable assistance over long periods of time. My deep appreciation also goes to Marc Garanger, who invited me to work extensively at his private archive in Lablore (Normady). I would also like to thank Manuel Bidermanas, Georges Chatain, Floris de Bonville, Hélène Défaix-Jaeger, Véronique Figini-Véron, Agathe Gaillard, Jean-Claude Gautrand, Hervé Gloaguen, Serge Hambourg, Hubert Henrotte, Judith Kagan, Jacques Ostier, Bernard Perrine, Jean Pottier, Jean-Louis Swiners, and Sabine Weiss, who willingly shared with me their knowledge and experience. Finally, I would like to warmly thank Nicole Bériou for helping me find accommodation during my frequent research trips to Paris. My wonderful family and friends have provided me with a safety net that gave me the strength to endure the difficulties of a long and demanding research project. I thank my parents, Drora and Shimon, my brother Ido, as well as Ilana and Lena Zengina, for their inexhaustible encouragement and assistance that meant more than they realize. At critical moments, I could always rely on my friends Ido Ben-Shmuel, Brent Cebul, Ofir Dor, Eran Dorfman, Sophie Friese-Greene, Elisabeth Heyne, Alec Hickmott, Einat Klafter, Einam Livnat, Guy Lurie, Stephen Macekura, Nimrod Reitman, and Galia Yanoshevsky. Lastly, and most importantly, my deepest gratitude goes to my wife Miri, whose love, brilliance, strength, and unique sensibilities were my primary anchor during these years. This manuscript is dedicated to her. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract i Acknowledgments iii List of Illustrations vii Introduction 1 Chapter One Participant Observer: Humanist Photography during 16 the Era of National Reconstruction, 1944-1959 Chapter Two Photography as a Weapon: Two Militant Photographers 85 Unmask State Repression during the Algerian War Chapter Three Photography Vs. the State during the “1968 Years” 143 Chapter Four Flash-Back, Flash-Forward: The Photojournalistic