Born in 1904, Roger Schall was a globally renowned photographer in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. He worked in all photographic disciplines including fashion, portraits, nudes and still lives but the majority of his work was reportage. He began working with his father, a portrait photographer, in 1918 and was one of the first photojournalists to start shooting with Leica and Rolleiflex cameras. His first publications were noticed by the major press in 1932 and from then on he was regularly given assignments by them. His studio in Montmartre, created with his brother in 1931, became a photo agency and handled images that were published by the most world-famous magazines: “Vu”, “Vogue”, “L’illustration”, “Picture Post”, “Bystander”, “Life”, “Paris-Match”…, representing 150 covers and 10,000 printed photos. The agency closed due to the general mobilization of 1939. Once demobilized, Roger Schall returned to Paris to photograph daily life under the German occupation through to the Liberation of Paris in 1945. Post-war to the 1970’s he continued working in fashion and focused mainly on commercial and publicity work instead of photojournalism. Until his death, in 1995, Roger Schall managed his own archives. Roger-Viollet distributes now his photographs of Paris that are housed at the Musée Carnavalet.
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