BBC – It is one of the iconic photographs of the 20th Century, an image that is synonymous with love and with Paris, the city of romance. Its name is Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville (The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville) and an exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin is currently displaying it alongside another hundred or so pictures by the great French photographer Robert Doisneau.
“People like my photos because they see in them what they would see if they stopped rushing about and took the time to enjoy the city,” Robert Doisneau used to say. It is very true, however, perhaps surprisingly, his most famous picture was staged, says Francine Deroudille, Robert Doisneau’s daughter and co-curator of the exhibition, as she reveals the story behind Le Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville to BBC Culture. – read more