“I TRY TO CONVEY WONDER AND BEAUTY, HOWEVER SMALL IT MAY BE”

DITYVON, Claude. Dityvon. Paris: Viva, (1978). Slim quarto, original stiff photographic paper covers. $150.

First edition of this collection of 30 duotone photographs by Viva photographer Claude Dityvon, inscribed on the title page, “A Pete. Pour son Paris chaleureux. Enfin une respiration. Pas d’influence ni de Gibson, si Krims. Un simple regard, mais c’est tout. Dityvon.” From the collection of acclaimed photojournalist Peter Turnley.

Famous French photographer and one of the founders of Viva, Claude Raymond Dityvon was originally influenced by the cinema. Jean Vigo, Buster Keaton, Eisenstein, D.W. Griffith, and especially Murnau and Fritz Lang, were some of the filmmakers he emulated. Dityvon began making photographs in 1967, documenting the slums of La Courneuve, the conditions of miners and fishermen, and the series of student protests and a general strike of May ‘68 that caused the eventual collapse of the De Gaulle government. “I am not a reporter or conceptual artist,” he once admitted, “but simply a photographer passionately committed to this sublime art… While seeking purity, I try to convey wonder and beauty, however small it may be.” Text in French. From the collection of Peter Turnley, acclaimed photojournalist for Newsweek, Life and Harper’s Magazine, who has covered “almost every important international news event of the last 15 years” (New York Times).

Interior fine, a bit of rubbing and creasing to original covers. An extremely good inscribed copy.