Pierre Bonnard

c. 1943

The third escape succeeds: a farm in Touraine

He twice tried to escape the camp and failed, and was punished with solitary confinement; the third attempt succeeded — he hid on a farm in Touraine and obtained false papers that let him travel in France.

1943

He digs up the Leica buried in the Vosges

In 1943 he dug up his beloved Leica, which he had buried in Vosges farmland.

1943–1944

In the underground: helping escapees and photographing the occupation

In France he worked for the underground, helping other escapees and secretly working with other photographers to cover the occupation and then the liberation of France.

1944

The liberation of Paris and portraits of Matisse and Camus

In 1944 he photographed the liberation of Paris and made portraits of Henri Matisse, Albert Camus, and Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie.

1944–1945

The film “Le Retour” on returning prisoners

At the end of the war the American Office of War Information asked him to make a documentary, “Le Retour” (“The Return”), about returning French prisoners and displaced persons.

1946–1947

Portraits of Valéry, Faulkner and Capote

In 1946–1947 he photographed Paul Valéry (1946), William Faulkner and Truman Capote (1947).