Gérald Bloncourt, painter and photographer, died 8 years ago

Eight years ago, on October 29, 2018, Gérald Bloncourt died in Paris. Born on November 4, 1926, in Bainet, he was a painter, poet, and photographer who left behind more than 200,000 photos.

The Five Glorious Ones

The son of a mother from France and a father from Guadeloupe, he grew up in Jacmel before his family moved to Port-au-Prince in 1936. In 1944, he participated in the founding of the Centre d'art haïtien. Along with Jacques Stephen Alexis, René Depestre, and Gerard Lafontant, he was one of the leaders of the "Five Glorious Ones," who brought down the Lescot government in 1946. Sentenced to death, he was saved by a mobilization of personalities but was expelled from the country. After a stay in Martinique, he settled in Paris.

The Engaged Eye

A committed communist, in 1948 he took on the political responsibility for the photo service of L'Humanité and covered many social struggles. As an independent reporter, he worked notably for Le Nouvel Observateur and L'Express. In 1963, he created Éditions Murales. Starting in 1966, he followed the Portuguese immigration, then covered the Carnation Revolution in 1974. He returned to Haiti in 1986 after the fall of the Duvaliers and co-founded the "Committee to Judge Duvalier" in 1998.

The Distinctions

He received the Medal of the City of Paris in 2008, was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2011, and a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2015. In 2016, the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, awarded him the Order of Prince Dom Henrique. He also published the collection Dialogue at the End of the Waves in 2008.