Willy Ronis, one of the giants of French photography in the 20th century, died on Saturday in Paris at the age of 99.  He is credited, along with Robert Doisenau and Henri Cartier-Bresson, with inventing humanist photography.

The son of a Ukrainian photographer and a Lithuanian pianist who fled the pogroms and settled in Paris, Ronis was born at the foot of Montmartre.

His first passion was for music and drawing, but he later turned to photography. Willy Ronis saw the poetry in Parisian daily life, and with his camera captured the scenes that form a part of our collective memory.

(Photo, Willy Ronis)

 Jan del Monte, blogging from the rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris, France

© 2009 Jan del Monte

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