Laure Akbin-Guillot (1879-1962) l’enjeu classique (English Subtitles)
Running time: 8mins 22secs
Laure Albin-Guillot (1879–1962)
Parisian photographer
Born Laure Meffredy in Paris, photographer Laure Albin-Guillot first opened a portrait studio at her home in Rue du Ranelagh in the 1920s. She began in the pictoralist style and moved into a modern style in the 1920s. She took part in both the Salon International d’Art Photographique and the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs every year until the 1950s. Upon the death of her husband, Dr Albin Guillot, in 1929 she moved her studio to 43 Blv de Beauséjour where she photographed the likes of Jean Cocteau, Collette, and Ho Chi Min. Technically extremely proficient, she published a collection of groundbreaking ‘photomicrography’ in 1931 entitled Micrographie decorative. In 1933, Laure published Photographie publicitaire and famously illustrated Paul Valery’s Narcisse.
Besides being celebrated for her portraits, nudes, fashion and advertising images, Laure was also a powerful institutional figure. She was director of both the photographic archives of the Beaux-Arts (the future Ministry of Culture) and the Cinémathèque Nationale from 1932, as well as President of the Union Féminine des Carrières Libérales et Commercials, promoting working women.
Laure retired her positions in 1940 but continued to do studio work until 1956.
Her archive was acquired by Agence Roger Viollet in 1964 and is now held by the Museums of the City of Paris.
By Paula Vellet
