Nouvelle Vague: French Photography from the 1950s and 1960s

Peter Fetterman Gallery is proud to announce its upcoming exhibition, “Nouvelle Vague,” a sweeping survey of French photography that highlights some of the most influential artists of the 20th century. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to explore the legacy of French Humanist photography, a movement that profoundly shaped visual culture in France and beyond in the decades following World War II.

Emerging from the vibrant artistic milieu of post-war France, French Humanist photographers developed a distinctive style that balanced realism with lyricism. Drawing inspiration from everyday life, these artists captured spontaneous moments, intimate gestures, and the beauty of ordinary experiences with both sensitivity and poetic depth. Positioned between photojournalism and painterly observation, their work offered profound insight into the human condition and celebrated the resilience, dignity, and warmth of the people they photographed.


Nouvelle Vague features iconic works by Raymond Cauchetier, Édouard Boubat, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Robert Doisneau, Willy Ronis, Sabine Weiss, and other luminaries of French photography. Among the highlights are photographs taken on the set of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1959 film, À Bout de Souffle (Breathless), featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg off-set on the Champs-Élysées. This film is a cornerstone of the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) cinema movement and remains a defining cultural touchstone in France. Its innovative style—including jump cuts, naturalistic dialogue, and on-location shooting—challenged traditional filmmaking conventions and mirrored the fresh, observational approach of French Humanist photography. The images capture both the energy of post-war Paris and the playful yet revolutionary spirit of a generation seeking freedom and artistic experimentation.

French Humanist photography played a pivotal role in shaping post-war cinema, literature, and visual arts. Its enduring values—dignity, compassion, and authenticity—remain deeply relevant in contemporary art and continue to inform the work of today’s photographers. By examining the interplay of light, form, and human expression, these images underscore the universal themes of connection, empathy, and shared experience.

The photographs in the exhibition are immediately striking, conveying dignity, emotion, and narrative depth. Whether portraying intimate street scenes, tender family moments, or bustling urban life, each image offers a window into a France defined by resilience, humanity, and cultural richness. From the evocative streets of Paris to the quiet poetry of rural life, the exhibition captures the essence of everyday life in post-war France with unparalleled artistry.

Nouvelle Vague reaffirms the power of photography to connect us to our shared humanity. The exhibition invites audiences to rediscover these timeless works and appreciate the profound influence of French Humanist photography and French New Wave cinema—movements that not only documented history but elevated everyday life into enduring art forms.

Whether you are a collector, a photography enthusiast, or simply a lover of human stories captured through the lens, Nouvelle Vague offers a compelling opportunity to experience the beauty, narrative power, and historical significance of one of photography and cinema’s most important cultural movements. A must-see, even if you are not French like me, and even if it doesn’t directly recall your roots or the legendary images you grew up with.



Peter Fetterman Gallery
Born in London, Peter Fetterman has been deeply involved in the medium of photography for over 40 years. Initially a filmmaker and collector, he set up his first gallery over 30 years ago in 1988. He was one of the pioneer tenants of Bergamot Station, the Santa Monica Center of the Arts, when it first opened in 1994.

The gallery has one of the largest inventories of classic 20th Century photography in the country particularly in humanist photography. Diverse holdings include work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, Steve McCurry, Ansel Adams, Paul Caponigro, Willy Ronis, Michael Kenna, André Kertesz, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Lillian Bassman, Pentti Sammallahti, Sarah Moon and Jeffrey Conley.

Peter and his colleagues are committed to promoting the awareness and appreciation of the most powerful of the mediums in an intimate, user-friendly salon environment.
www.peterfetterman.com
@peterfettermangallery