Jacques-Henri Lartigue

This 1986 volume, published by Benteli Verlag, serves as a curated retrospective of the work of Jacques-Henri Lartigue, a French photographer and painter who famously captured the leisure and elegance of the French Belle Époque. Lartigue began photographing as a child in the early 20th century, utilizing his camera to document his family's experiments with early flight, automobile racing, and the carefree high society of the era. His work remained largely private until his late discovery by the art world in the 1960s, leading to a surge of interest in his unique, spontaneous aesthetic.

The publication reflects the meticulous archival efforts to organize Lartigue's massive collection of diaries and photographic plates. The design and layout were intended to mirror the informal, sketchbook-like quality of Lartigue’s original albums, emphasizing the sense of movement and joy that defined his perspective. Upon its release, the book was received as a essential addition to the history of amateur photography, celebrated for preserving a sense of fleeting innocence through Lartigue's precise yet lighthearted observational style.