1921 — 2007
Janine Niépce was one of France's first female photojournalists. Born in Meudon south of Paris in 1921, photography was in her bloodline: she was descended from Nicéphore Niépce, one of the artform's earliest pioneers. After graduating the Sorbonne in 1944, Niépce became part of the humanist movement in post-WWII photography. In occupied Paris she had rebelled against Nazi occupation, playing her role in the resistance by developing films for intelligence networks. Her mid-century work captured a country on the cusp of modernity, and by the 1970s had become heavily intertwined with the women's liberation movement in France and further afield (her travels covered India, Japan and the USA).
Niépce was twice married, and had one son. Before her death in 2007, she published some eighteen books, having in later life been named Knight of the Legion d'Honor by the state. Given the impressive length of her career, and the pivotal role she played reporting on a changing society, the legacy left by Niépce is considerable.
