“A fine image is geometry, modulated by the heart.”
~ Willy Ronis
(1910-2009)
No less a judge of photographic talent than Edward Steichen recognized Willy Ronis’s gifts, including him in the landmark exhibition Five French Photographers at the Museum of Modern Art in 1951, alongside Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Izis, and Brassaï. Four years later, Steichen again selected Ronis for his seminal exhibition The Family of Man, also at MoMA—an exhibition that went on to travel the world for many years.
I once asked Willy how this particular image came about. Place Vendôme, home to Paris’s great fashion houses, was an area he frequented often, not far from the Rapho Agency where he was a prominent member. At lunchtime, fashion models would step outside to eat their sandwiches, and on this occasion Willy noticed one of them stepping over a puddle. In it, the Vendôme Column shimmered in reflection. Others soon followed, and Willy photographed the moment, later reviewing his contact sheets to find this frame—by far the most successful.
It went on to become one of the most requested photographs in our long collaboration. The reason is clear: a perfect balance of geometry, pre-visualization, and Ronis’s unerring eye, resulting in an image of enduring elegance.
Come see this photograph, along with many other remarkable works, in our exhibition Nouvelle Vague: French Photography from the 1950s and 1960s, now on view.
