Press photographer Hugues Vassal, co-founder of the Gamma agency and official photographer of Edith Piaf, died Monday at his home in Tours at the age of 89, we learned Thursday from his daughter .
“
He died peacefully, asleep on his desk after working on his next book
,” his adopted daughter Solène said, confirming local media reports.
Hugues Vassal, who would have been 90 on June 17, began his career as a press photographer at
France Dimanche
in 1953. He then specialized in photographing show business stars, from Johnny Hallyday to Brigitte Bardot.
In 1957, he met and became the friend of Edith Piaf, who asked him to be her official photographer.
Hugues Vassal continued in recent years to animate exhibitions and conferences on the singer, to which he devoted several books.
Read alsoZanele Muholi: “I try to simplify photography”
In 1966, he co-founded the photo-reportage agency Gamma, with Gilles Caron and Raymond Depardon, among others.
He publishes reports on the Shah of Iran, Richard Nixon or Anouar el-Sadat, but it is a photo taken in 1969 in South Africa, which will go around the world.
In a stadium near the Bloemfontein gold mine, a rope separates white spectators from black spectators.
This photo has become a symbol of the struggle against apartheid.
"
This is one of the most beautiful photos of my career
", testified Hugues Vassal on October 9, 2022, at the town hall of Tours, in the presence of the Franco-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado who came to give him the medal of knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
“
Hugues Vassal gave me my first work permit.
For the immigrant that I was, it was the chance of my life: to be able to stay in France
,” said Sebastião Salgado at the time.
A religious ceremony is scheduled for May 22 in Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) where Edith Piaf died.
Another tribute is planned in Tours on June 24th.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/S7ERVSCT4FUVX6R7TUVBDNTH5Y.jpg)
