Michelle Vignes

American, 1928 - 2012

BiographyFrench artist Michelle Vignes passed away on 5 October 2012, at age 84. The artist, born in 1928, had an all-consuming passion for social documentary photography, which she used both to create her own works and to support other rising and established photographers, through two organisations she co-founded: the International Fund for Photography and Fotovision.

Born in a French family in Reims, which she left during the Nazi occupation, she settled in Paris and worked for Magnum as director of photography from 1953. She worked in close collaboration with Henri Cartier-Bresson and the other founders, Robert Capa and Chim during the golden years of the agency. Cartier-Bresson thought so highly of her that er he entrusted her with checking his prints.

Her interest in minorities led her to direct a report on the American Indian Movement, and to cover the occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969-1972). Adopted by the community, she was initiated to Indian culture and ritual ceremonies. Michelle Vignes’s gaze on American Indians was always intimist, rather than ethnological. For over thirty years, she stood by the AIM, from the rebellion in Wounded Knee to the release of Dennis Banks (co-founder of the movement). She became a witness of the initiatives carried on by the American Indians in order to assert their rights and preserve their identity.

http://www.artmediaagency.com/en/53913/death-of-photographer-michelle-vignes/

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