The Humanist Eye(28)

At the heart of Roger Schall’s work lies an enduring fascination with people. Workers, children, artisans, families and anonymous passers-by are observed in the rhythm of everyday life, most often outside the studio and without artifice. With empathy, he revealed the dignity, humour and poetry of ordinary existence, never reducing his subjects to symbols. Blending social realism with a sensitive and direct gaze, his photographs anticipated the humanist photography that would come to define post-war France.