Jacques-Henri Lartigue

One of my favorite characters in the world of photography, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, began taking pictures at age seven. The photographic community remembers him most for his gorgeous depictions of the people and technology of Paris in the 1920's and 30's, but I prefer the pictures he took of his friends at play when he was a child himself, and the way he captured Monte Carlo beach as an adult. His aesthetic inspired one of my favorite directors, Wes Anderson, in several of his films. Here are a few of my favorites...

A self portrait,

achieved by balancing his camera

on wooden blocks in the bath

De De Diving with Water Wings [1911]

Monte Carlo Beach, August

Zissou [1911]

Grab the shovel, Harold

G R A B . T H E . S H O V E L

B L O W . S O M E . B U B B L E S

G O . A N D . L O V E . S O M E . M O R E

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"Bring tea for the Tillerman, steak for the sun,

Wine for the women who made that rain come.

Seagulls sing your hearts away,

'Cause while the sinners sin, the children play.

Oh Lord! How they play and play,

for that happy day, for that happy day!"

-Cat Stevens

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