Henri Dauman | The Biography | Manhattan Darkroom
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HENRI DAUMAN THE BIOGRAPHY

 1933 - 1950 

  • ​1933 Birth in Montmartre

  • 1939-1945 Following his father's deportation to Auschwitz, his mother hides Henri in Limay (Yvelines), then near Alençon, in Normandy.

  • 1945 He attends the Allied landings in Normandy

  • 1946 In Paris, accidental death of his mother - "the case of the Pharmacist of Rue Ramay"

  • 1946-1950 Youth spent in orphanages

  • 1949 Apprenticeship in a photography studio at Courbevoie

  • 1950 Serves as assistant to Mr. De Longchamp, fashion photographer in Paris. Makes portraits of celebrities for Radio Luxembourg and the Bernand Agency, a company specializing in entertainment photography.

WHO? FONT Vintage magazine

1950 - 1969

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Henri Dauman and Uncle Sam
Henri Dauman and Brigitte Bardot

 1950 - 1969 

  • December 14, 1950 Emigrates to New York aboard the Liberty liner in order to join his uncle Sam

  • 1954 Collaboration with the newspaper France-Amérique

  • 1956 First assignment in the New York Times Magazine on the city of New York

  • 1958 First assignment commissioned by Life on Jean Seberg's marriage. Works for the European press. Transforms his kitchen into a darkroom, does assignments on his own initiative that he offers to numerous magazines

  • 1960 Perfects a printing system

  • January 20, 1961 Negotiates an important contract for the inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, which later allows him to obtain several accreditations to cover events concerning the President and American political life

  • 1962 Appears in Louis Malle’s film Vie privée in the role of a photographer

  • 1963 Makes the transition to color photography

  • 1967 Receives the Pictures of the Year International prize from the School of Journalism of the University of Missouri.

  • Invited to join the Arts and Leisure section for the Sunday edition of the New York Times. Rents a studio and begins to work in publicity photography for important American companies like Monsento, IBM and Saks Fifth Avenue.

1970 - 1997

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 1970  - 1997 

  • 1970 Becomes an associate in a company that produces audiovisual software for cinema and television.

  • Director and Vice President of Cinergy Communications Corporation. Producer and director of documentaries, director of photography for several channels such as BBC-TV, PBS and National Education Television

  • 1972 Publishes a book on the defense of photographers’ rights with the American Society of Media Photographers “ASMP Business Practices Guide”

  • 1974-1975 Lectures on photojournalism at the School of Visual Arts in New York

  • 1976 Pursues his photographic activities in the industrial and publicity fields

  • 1997 Files a lawsuit against the Andy Warhol Foundation, Archive and Museum for the use of his portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy in the work Sixteen Jackies. The case goes down in the history of image copyright law.

Henri Dauman portrait

2002 to today

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Poster of the exhibition Manhattan Darkroom, Henri Dauman Photographs
Exhibition Gallery of Henri Dauman

 2002 to today 

  • 2002 Participates in the collective exhibition “Shopping: A century of art and consumer culture” at the Tate Liverpool

  • 2003 Participates in the collective exhibition “John F. Kennedy” at the Deutsches Historisches Museum

  •  November / December 2014 -more than 18,000 visitors flock to visit the exhibition event "The Manhattan Darkroom" at the Iéna Palace of Paris. Retrospective with more than 200 photographs.

  • 2017 Taschen reinvent J.F Kennedy uncompromising portrait by publishing the text of Norman Mailer completed by 300 photographs that takes us back to the Presidential Elections and the JFK family life. It includes shots taken by some of the greatest photojournalists of the time, such as Cornell Capa, Henri Dauman or Garry Winogrand.

  • February / May 2017 - Retrospective exhibition at the Nicephore Niepce Museum in Chalon sur Saône

  • September / October 2017 - Thematic Exhibition "The Manhattan Darkroom - Special Cinema"

  • 2017-2018, Hollywood, New York, Paris - shooting a documentary film about the life and work of the Photographer (Official Website) directed by Peter Kenneth Jones (Almanac Project - Ninja Turtles - Battleship)​

  • April/May 2018 Exhibition in Los Angeles for KPprojects.

  • October 10, 2018 - World Premiere of the film "Henri Dauman - Looking Up" at the Hampton Film Festival

  • 2019 - The film "Henri Dauman - Looking Up" is presented and awarded in various American festival.

  • May 2019 - Henri Dauman is received as an honorary citizen of the city of Limay (France). It is in this city that the Morin family hid the young man. On this occasion, the descendants of Aurélien and Julienne Morin should be consecrated "Righteous among the nations".

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  • Henri Dauman lives in New York with his wife Odiana

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