Light on the Riviera

The Riviera has long been a place to see and be seen. Photographs have been made on the Riviera since the early days of the medium. The strong light and mild climate, first sought as a balm for the consumptive, was promoted in the Belle Epoque as a destination to over winter and the Côte d'Azur was born. Along with much of European high society, numerous artists and photographers were seduced by its charms, transforming this previously remote region into the place to be for creatives, intellectuals, and bon vivants. This book charts the development of photography and the Riviera itself, as seen through the work of photographers from Charles Nègre to Lee Miller, Martine Franck and Helmut Newton. Over the decades, they created a visual legacy that is told chronologically in this book, starting with the beginnings of photography and the avantgarde fashion of the 1920s, and continuing with the Surrealists, the Golden Fifties of paparazzi photography, to portraits of artists, fashion photography and finally photojournalism.