Le Rectangle was a professional association of French illustration and advertising photographers created in 1937 and disbanded in 1946 to be replaced by Le Groupe des XV.
Context In the first half of the twentieth century France, after Germany, was a major publisher of picture magazines, including Paris-Soir, Le Monde-Illustré, Art et Décoration, Art et Médecine, l’Illustration, La Gazette, Le Jardin des Modes, Candide, Gringoire, Détective, Voilà, Marianne, Faits Divers, Sourire, Photo-Monde, Regards, Ce Soir, Vu, Partout-Paris, Paris-Magazine, Paris Sex-Appeal and Paris Match. Aside from the few salaried staff photographers, an array of photo-agences national and international, and representing many hundreds of freelance photojournalists and photographers, supplied the imagery; Agence ROL, Trampus, Harlingue, Meurisse, Service General de la Presse, Alban, Achay, Buffotot, Mondial Photo Presse, Vereenidge Fotobureaux, Foto Bureau, Giraudon, Stella Presse, Agence France-Presse, Arax, Chevjolon, Actualites Photos, Press-Cliche, Compagnie Aerienne Francaise, Centropress, Ecce Photo, Aral, Dephot, Les Illustres Francais, Photothek, Interphotos, Bulgur, Rapho, Schostal, etc., among them. On the eve of World War II however, the dominance of photography in the French press slowed and had once again to compete for publication against drawn illustration. At l'Exposition internationale des arts et des techniques dans la vie moderne, under the Eiffel Tower in 1937, for the first time a panel (Groupe XIV) was formed to display advertising, including the work of photographers, of which its president Léon Rénier, of l’Agence Havas proclaimed;
"Animator of modern life, generator of progress. Advertising cannot be separated from the activity of our time with the rhythm of which it is closely associated. It uses producers of all kinds to manifest itself. Artists, craftsmen, workers, work for it in large numbers, without counting those who, in the industries it animates and develops, live indirectly from its action."
Foundation French photographers were quick to react, led by Emmanuel Sougez, who after extensive artistic training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, with experience in Switzerland and across Europe, had been directing the photographic department of the prestigious magazine l’Illustration since 1926. In 1937 he founded Le Rectangle to defend the trade against amateurism exemplified in offerings at the great exhibitions of 1936 and 1937, with consequent diminishing public respect, recognising that, in this development, the “country of Niépce,” was most at fault;
“While other nations bestowed on it confidence and credit, in France, which is nevertheless the country of Niépce, photography has been ridiculed for too long by who knows what absurd judgments. The professional photographer (…), even now in certain circles, is considered a grotesque being, a pretentious failure”. So much so that the favour which Niépce’s invention enjoys today “comes from elsewhere,” from these “Germans and their neighbours in Central Europe now held to be the best photographers in the world”, who “invaded France, suffocating our poor colleagues”.
Members The founding members in 1937 were photographers based then in Paris;
Pierre Adam (at 26, rue des Plantes) Marcel Arthaud (14, rue Alfred-Roll) Serge Boiron (1901-1975), "MOF (Meilleurs Ouvrier de France, photograph and hart), he had a studio 16, rue Duphot Paris and settled few times before the war in Lyon, where he works for the Lumiere factory and had his own studio. He has been a member of the French resistance.He died in Lyon O7, Avenue Berthelot. He made a lot of photos for industrial expositions and factories. Louis Caillaud (I, rue Claude-Matrat, Issy-les-Moulineaux) Yvonne Chevalier (117, boulevard Jourdan) (the only woman) André Garban (50, rue des Martyrs) Pierre Jahan (14, rue Lafontaine) Henri Lacheroy (64, rue Saint-Charles) Gaston Paris (27, boulevard des Italiens) Philippe Pottier (55, rue de Verneuil) Jean Roubier (68, rue Boursault), Emmanuel Sougez (9, rue Bourdaloue) René Servant (29, rue Condé)
Ethos Sougez explained the origin of the name of the group in June 1938, a year after its birth, in an article in Photo-Illustrations:
"A few isolated people meet around the same ideas, a common love of their profession. And a group is formed: three, five, ten, thirteen... Here is Le Rectangle. This name, suggested by Pierre Adam during the initial discussions, was adopted for its regularity and harmony, as well as its rigor and discipline. Because the Rectangle is subject to strict laws". He continued to explain that this "Association of French Illustration and Advertising Photographers" was to be an affirmation of the profession, bringing together "irreproachable technicians," because "photography is a complex and delicate profession, which requires knowledge and long experience [which] could only be practiced honourably after years of practice, with the help of qualities, some of which are innate, precise equipment and a thorough knowledge of its subsequent applications."
A preliminary manifesto, published in 1938 for its first Salon, defined the new association:"A group of notable practitioners, organised to ensure, at the same time as first-class productions, the defence and dissemination of photography. Determined to exercise this defense through the quality of its work, Le Rectangle offers, through the choice of its members and the rigour of its conduct, serious assurance. A program based on such motives offers high guarantees. It opens up new paths to those who hesitate, or are still unaware of the virtues of photography. Le Rectangle brings together, in a sought-after eclecticism, the best professional elements of French photography in all its branches and applications. Driven by a rare fraternal solidarity, this group of yet independent units presents itself as a coherent block within which meetings and demonstrations provoke a continuous renewal of the spirit of creation. This new organisation forestalls exploitation by amateur photographers."
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