Maurice-Louis Branger who was born in Fontainebleau in 1874 began to work as a photographer beginning in 1895. Around 1905 he created the photo reportage agency "Photopresse" at 5 rue Cambon in Paris. He was a versatile and very active photographer, covering the main events of Paris life, in particular the flood of 1910, but also criminal affairs and trials, the cultural and political life and sporting events. A truly international reporter, he was one of the rare photographers to go into the field during the First Balkan War in 1913. Upon his return to France, he photographed World War I and its consequences for four years. Once a civilian and Parisian again, he became known particularly for his local reportages of daily life of the roaring twenties in a rapidly changing city. He died in 1950 in Mantes la Jolie. In 1961, Roger-Viollet acquired 31,000 negatives of his photographs produced between 1900 and 1927, as well as many vintage prints.
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Bastille Day ball in front of the Pantheon. Paris, 1912.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Gliding competition. Grandin aircraft. Vauville (France), on August 7, 1923.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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1910 Great Flood of Paris. The Saint-Lazare train station.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Speech of Jean Jaurès during the demonstration against the Three-Year Service Law, extending the military conscription from 2 years to 3. Right to Jaurès, sitting : Pierre Renaudel, a founder of the French socialist party. On the left : Arthur Groussier, French politician. Le Pré-Saint-Gervais (France), on May 25, 1913.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Café terrace. Paris, circa 1925.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Demonstration of wine growers from the South of France. Carcassonne (France), on May 26, 1907.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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World War I. Women working in an ammunition factory.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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First Balkan War. Bulgarian soldiers hanging two Turkish men. 1912.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Josephine Baker (1906-1975), American variety artist. Paris, 1927.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Car beauty contest. France, circa 1925-1930.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Transport of barrels of wine at the Bercy warehouses. Paris, circa 1903.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Monks from a Buddhist monastery in Korea.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Grand Prix of the ACF (Automobile Club de France), in 1914. In the foreground, a Fiat car.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Roland Garros (1888-1918), French aviator and officer. France, 1913.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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World War One. Soldiers arriving at the Gare de l'Est train station. Paris, August 1914.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Paris Motor Show. Delahaye stand, December 1912.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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July Crisis. Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934), French statesman, back from a visit in Russia. Paris, 1914.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Bastille Day parade at the place de la Concorde. Paris (VIIIth arrondissement), on July 14, 1919.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Victor Hémery (1876-1950), pilote automobile français, dépassant le premier les 200km/h à bord d'une Blitzen-Benz. Circuit de Brooklands (Angleterre), 1909.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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The Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning, the world's oldest and most respected gas balloon race. Balloons at the big airfield near Zurich (Switzerland), on October 3rd, 1909.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Homme traversant la Seine sur son vélo aquatique. France, 1910.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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Delahaye fire engine of the Carpeaux fire station. Paris, 1908-1909.
Maurice-Louis Branger / Roger-Viollet
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