Patterned Bodies of the French Photographer Fernand Fonssagrives

Fernand Fonssagrives (1910–2003) was an example of a person who could adapt to changing conditions and switch activities, manifesting as much talent as he used to in a completely different field. Similarly, the photographer Anne Brigman had to quit photography due to poor sight, which allowed her to develop writing skills instead. While Brigman was known as a pictorialist, Fonssagrives combined nudist and avant-garde photography, being on par with Man Ray and Lucien Clergue (the latter was a kid when Fonssagrives started doing photography), even though his initial career wasn't connected to the camera.

Fig. 1. Cinched Waist Suit, 1940s, Harper’s Bazaar (Instagram.com)

Fig. 2. Waist Cincher (Lisa), ca. 1954–58 (Instagram.com)

Fig. 3. Contours, 1954-58 (artsy.net)

Fig. 4. Geodesics, 1954–58 (artsy.net)

Fig. 5. Les Berlingots NYC (artsy.net)

Fig. 6. Instagram.com

Fig. 7. Decolette Ligne NYC (instagram.com)

Fig. 8. arthur.io

A Part of My Body

Born in the artistic family of a musician and a sculptor, Fernand Fonssagrives started as a dancer but gave up his choice in his twenties due to a diving injury. That's the second artist presented on our platform whose activity of a photographer is somehow provoked by diving, though in this case, rather indirectly. The real inspiration was his wife, dancer, and model Lisa Fonssagrives (1911-1992), whom he met in Paris. Together, they attended classes and gave private lessons. Fonssagrives injured his back around 1936 when Lisa started working as a model. Initially, she was approached by Willy Maywald, who saw her in the elevator and offered to model hats for him. The modeling career began shortly after the photos were submitted to Vogue: Lisa was invited to do a test with Paul Horst. That was the time when she gave her husband a Rolleiflex camera. As Fonssagrives once said, "It became a part of my body."

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Click HERE for the peak of seductive pictorialism in photography of Anne Brigman

Sources: 1995-2015.undo.net; instagram.com/fernandfonssagrives/; artsy.net; artnet.com; Interview of Lisa Fonssagrives-Penn by David Seidner (archived: web.archive.org/web/20130416102611/http://bombsite.com/issues/12/articles/645)