Django Reinhardt et son fils Babik.

REINHARDT, Django - RONIS, Willy (photo.).

Published by Paris: Willy Ronis, 1945

About this Item

Captivating and deeply compatissant image of Django with his young son Babik, captured in 1945 by the celebrated French photographer Willy Ronis. At the time Django and his wife Naguine "were living in such a crummy, cramped apartment in Paris, Ronis was forced to shoot the image in a mirror to have space to capture them both" (Dregni, p. 102). Willy Ronis (1910-2009) "has been called 'the most poetic photographer of the menu peuple this century'. He travelled little, preferring his native France, better still his native Paris, and best of all the patch around Belleville-Ménilmontant where he could photograph the local people of the 'popular classes', with whom he felt such a gentle affinity. Ronis was born in Paris, the son of a Jewish refugee from Odessa who had a photographic studio near the Place de la Nation. His first love was music. He learned the violin and studied composition, but his studies were interrupted in 1932 when his father fell ill and he took over the studio. He later claimed to find a resemblance between music and photography in 'the taste I have for composition, particularly counterpoint. Many of my photographs are taken from above, either looking down or up, three planes in one image, like three different melodies in a fugue which work together to give the piece structure and harmony'" (The Guardian obituary). Distinguished jazz historian James Lincoln Collier remarks that Reinhardt is "without question, the single most important guitarist in the history of jazz, and probably would be named on most lists of all-time jazz greats. Despite a crippled left hand, he had a solid technique; his melodic conception was formidable. and his ability to swing was immense". James Lincoln Collier, The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History, 1978; Michael Dregni, Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz, 2006. Original silver gelatin print (image size: 316 x 260 mm, sheet size: 400 x 305 mm), verso with Ronis's studio wet stamp and pencilled inventory numbers. One or two minor creases otherwise in excellent condition.

Seller Inventory # 150388

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Django Reinhardt et son fils Babik.
• Publisher: Paris: Willy Ronis, 1945