Far from simply being a writer who would illustrate his literary approach, Gustave Roud had an intense photographic activity from the age of 16 until the end of his life. Not exposed during his lifetime, however, this part of the work placed him as one of the leading European writers-photographers of the interwar and the immediate post-war period. Despite posthumous exhibitions at the Centre Beaubourg (Paris) and the Musée de l’Elysée (Lausanne), as well as the publication of a catalog (Terre d’ombres, Slatkine, 2002), his status as a photographer has long remained on the fringes of literature, according to the will of Philippe Jaccottet who managed his work after his death. Yet Gustave Roud retained and transmitted his abundant work, accomplished with determination and rigour.
Image protocols, formal rigour and knowledge of photographic debates point to a growing interest that goes beyond mere leisure or dominical amateurism. He also adopted the color film in the late 1930s, which placed him at the forefront in this field. The alliance between literature and photography, the establishment of a singular aesthetic, took place mainly in the 1930s. Adept at the technique, the first years are governed by the principles of experimentation: from glass plates to stereoscopy, from autochrome plates to filming in Pathé-Baby. Thereafter, the colour is exploited, but without radically changing the shooting procedures. Gustave Roud owned his little laboratory, pulled his black and white shots himself, took care of the paper, chose his formats. The publication of his photographs in Swiss magazines or in the original edition of Haut-Jorat accompanies his journalistic activity or various forms of dissemination: sending of clichés to artists and writers, postcards to the family, donations to his models. This dissemination is understood more in epistolary relations and local or artistic sociability than in relation to the professional bodies of photography which it pays little. The photographs circulate mainly in the different circles of his entourage. His role as an official photographer for private events such as weddings also emphasized a confidence in his technical abilities.
The photograph’s featured here in the public display section, are the original un-retouched photos as directly printed from Roud’s negatives. The complete collection you see will also be available to paid member subscribers in a separate post
Introductory Photos
The photograph’s featured here in the public display section, are the original un-retouched photos as directly printed from Roud’s negatives. The complete collection you see will also be available to paid member subscribers in a separate post with cleaned up and restored versions, before and after samples, and additional photos not shown here.
