Lucien Hervé

Born 1910 in Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary – Died 2007 in Paris, France

“Lucien Hervé is one of the rare photographers to combine humanist philosophy and architectural concepts. High-angle framing, oblique shots, uncluttered composition and a penchant for abstraction characterize a photographic style far removed from that of his contemporaries.

“Photographer Lucien Hervé died in his 97^th year on June 26, 2007. Arriving in Paris from his native Hungary in 1929, László Elkán tried his hand at painting, music and fashion before starting work as a photographer for the magazine Marianne. Having been active in the leftwing CGT union and the Communist party, which twice stripped him of his party card, in 1938 and 1947, he quite logically became an early member of the Resistance and the National Movement for Prisoners of War and the Deported, soon after his escape from Hohenstein POW camp. It was then that he adopted the pseudonym Lucien Hervé.

“Close to the French post-war humanist school, whose leading lights included Robert Doisneau and Willy Ronis, Lucien Hervé’s career reached a turning-point in 1949, when he met Le Corbusier and became his official photographer until the architect’s death in 1965. Lucien Hervé was acclaimed as one of the finest photographers of architecture, notably for his beautiful pictures of Chandigarh, Brasilia and Le Thoronet and his subsequent collaborations with Alvar Aalto and Oscar Niemeyer. He also documented the construction of major public works in Paris, from the UNESCO building to the Louvre Pyramid. His later years featured series of photographs of his apartment in Paris. Over his 60-year career, he produced numerous publications and exhibited in galleries and museums across the globe.”

Virginie Chardin

Available works