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Lights, camera, action !

The Roger-Viollet Gallery presents an exhibition on the photographer Alain Adler (1923-1997) and his photographs on the movie sets. An intimate immersion in the French cinema.

Alain Adler (1923-1997) was born in Hungary to a Jewish family that immigrated to Paris in the 1930s. He joined the Resistance at the age of 19, in 1942. After the Liberation, he became a journalist for the magazine Renouveau and at the same time turned to photography. The reporter was then sent to the movie sets.

Alain Delon (born in 1935), French actor on the set of Henri Verneuil's film "Melody in the basement". France, December 14, 1962.

Of Alain Adler's work, only the period from 1954 to 1964 has come to us. A golden decade for French cinema with the emergence of La Nouvelle Vague. The emblematic stars parade in front of the photographer's lens: Brigitte Bardot, Anna Karina, Corinne Marchand, Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo...

Jacques Marin (1919-2001), Jean Gabin (1904-1976) and Bourvil (1917-1970), French actors on the set of Claude Autant-Lara's film "La Traversée de Paris". France, 1956.

Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-2021), French actor on the set of the film "Breathless" by Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022). France, September 1959.

Alain Adler photographs the off times of the shootings. When the set is in place but the actors are "off". Here they are again a little bit themselves, having abandoned their characters for a break. Alain Adler is not a set photographer but a photographer on a set. His black and white and the 6X6 square format of his photos make them a unique testimony.

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993), British actress (dressed by Hubert de Givenchy) on the set of Billy Wilder's film "Ariadne" (Love in the Afternoon). France, October 6, 1956.

From “La Traversée de Paris” to “À bout de souffle”, Alain Adler's work is a formidable record of the changing face of French cinema. 12,000 photos of Alain Adler's filming were acquired by the Roger-Viollet agency in 1990. They are kept by the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris (BHVP) and distributed exclusively by the Galerie Roger-Viollet.

Claude Rich (1929-2017), French actor and Anna Karina (1940-2019), French-Danish actress, on the set of the film "Ce soir ou jamais" by Michel Deville. France, 1961.

"Alain Adler, la photographie de cinéma sur un plateau",
Galerie Roger-Viollet, 6 Rue de Seine, 75006 Paris. From April 6 to June 24, 2023.

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