Three Seconds of Eternity

“My photographs are completely subjective. They show the world as I would like it to be at all times. And, for me, this world exists … because I create photographic proof of it.” Robert Doisneau became France’s most popular photographer. Most people are familiar with his most famous the lovers kissing in the town square, or Picasso with croissants for fingers, or the couple looking at an antique dealer’s shopwindow. In his shots of everyday scenes Doisneau pays affectionate homage to life in the small towns and suburbs of France. Three Seconds of Eternity, first published in 1979, remains the classic Doisneau book, now available again. The photographer himself not only selected the pictures, but also wrote a celebrated essay that is a vivid, amusing account of his career as a photographer, his encounter with novelist Blaise Cendrars, and the “average folk” he portrayed with gentle humor and compassion.