From Montmartre to Daguerre
From Montmartre to Daguerre, nearly a century of history unfolds.
Two artists’ studios, two eras, one enduring commitment: keeping Roger Schall’s work alive.
Montmartre
In 1931, Roger and Raymond Schall established Schall Frères at 36 avenue Junot, within an Art Deco artists’ enclave in the heart of Montmartre. From this discreet address, the brothers developed a unique model that combined photographic production, editing and distribution. Probably the most prolific photographic agency of the interwar years.
While Roger travelled, photographed and developed his distinctive visual language, Raymond expanded the agency’s reach through an international network of publishers and editors. For more than three decades, Avenue Junot served as the centre of a remarkable creative and editorial activity, from which thousands of photographs were distributed to magazines across Europe and the United States.
Daguerre
Nearly a century later, Cécile Schall and Lucas d’Aram, who hold Roger Schall’s rights and founded Schall Collection, chose to continue this story in another artists’ district of Paris. At 11 rue Daguerre, named after one of the inventors of photography, the estate found its home in a new artists’ studio, extending the legacy of Avenue Junot into the twenty-first century.
Today, the contact sheets, negatives, prints, publication files and books that once animated the Schall Frères studio continue to be preserved, studied and shared. While the purpose has evolved from producing photographs to transmitting a photographic legacy, the spirit of the atelier remains unchanged.
While the address has changed, the purpose remains the same. What was once a working studio dedicated to producing photographs has become a place dedicated to preserving, studying and sharing them. From Montmartre to Daguerre, the archive continues its journey.