René Robert (photographer)

This article is about the photographer. For the ice hockey player, see René Robert.

René Robert (4 March 1936 – 20 January 2022) was a Swiss photographer who specialized in photographing flamenco artists.

René Robert
Born	(1936-03-04)4 March 1936 Fribourg, Switzerland
Died	20 January 2022(2022-01-20) (aged 85) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Photographer

Life and career

Born in 1936 in Fribourg, Robert discovered photography at the age of 12. He had a three-year apprenticeship in Lausanne before working for a press agency in Geneva.^[1] In the mid-1960s, he moved to Paris, where he met a Swedish dancer who introduced him to the flamenco. In 1967, he became one of the great portrait photographers. He photographed personalities such as Paco de Lucía, Israel Galván, and Rocío Molina Cruz [es] in black-and-white.^[2][3]

Death

On the evening of 19 January 2022, Robert was walking through the Place de la République in Paris when he suddenly had a heart attack and collapsed on the sidewalk on Rue de Turbigo. Despite Robert lying motionless and on the pavement for nine hours, no-one stopped to assist him or called for help, until eventually a homeless person called the emergency services.^[4][5] Robert died of hypothermia on 20 January 2022, at the age of 85.^[6][7]

His death was subsequently the subject of media debate around public indifference to street people.^[4]

Personal life

He is survived by his daughter Dorothee Mazet, who lives in Serifontaine, France.

Publications

• La rage & la grâce, les flamencos (2001)
• Flamenco attitudes (2003)

Exhibitions

• "Un itinéraire en flamenco" (2015, Carré d'Art, Nîmes)^[2]
• Third Biennial of Flamenco Art (2017, Palais de Chaillot, Paris)^[8]
• "Chaillot, mémoire de la danse" (2018, Palais de Chaillot, Paris)^[9]
• "La caméra au rythme du flamenco" (2019, Espace Cosmopolis, Nantes).^[10]

Public collections

• Bibliothèque nationale de France^[11]

References

1. Pralong, Michel (25 January 2022). "La triste mort d'un photographe romand en pleine rue à Paris". Le Matin (in French). Paris. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
2. Morain, Odile (21 January 2015). "Les visages du flamenco dans l'objectif de René Robert". France Info (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
3. "Les visages du flamenco dans l'objectif de René Robert". Franceinfo (in French). 21 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
4. Jones, Sam; Willsher, Kim (28 January 2022). "'Killed by indifference': France shocked by death on busy Paris street". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
5. Lenoir, Luc (25 January 2022). "Le photographe René Robert, mort dans l'indifférence en pleine rue". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
6. "Paris : René Robert, le célèbre photographe de Flamenco, est mort en pleine rue dans l'indifférence totale". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Paris. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
7. "'Killed by indifference': 84-year-old photographer René Robert dies in the snow on busy Paris street". Euronews. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
8. Labesse, Patrick (13 November 2017). "L'élan du chant flamenco à Chaillot". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
9. Périer, Marie (21 May 2018). "À voir cet été : l'exposition "Chaillot, une mémoire de la danse"". Vogue France (in French). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
10. "Exposition La caméra au rythme du flamenco de René Robert". Festival du Cinéma Espagnol de Nantes (in French). 26 January 2022.
11. "Portrait d'Agujetas. Spectacle de flamenco à Paris. Photographie : René Robert". BnF Gallica (in French). 1996.