Quai de la Seine, the reader, Paris, 1957. © Adolfo Kaminsky (l.) – The bookseller, Paris, 1948. © Adolfo Kaminsky (r.)
Resistance fighter and forger. The incredible destiny of Adolfo Kaminsky has been known since his daughter Sarah revealed it to the world through a fascinating book in 2009, Adolfo Kaminsky, a life of forgery (published by Calmann-Lévy).
Born in 1925 in Argentina into a Jewish family, the latter grew up in Normandy, was passionate about chemistry and inks, and specialized, in Paris, in the manufacture of fake paper during the Occupation.
From the age of 17, he allowed many Jews to escape persecution. After the Second World War, he committed himself to decolonization and continued his clandestine "art" for thirty years, for different liberation movements, especially in Algeria and the rest of the African continent, and for people oppressed by dictatorships, particularly in South America.
Child at the fountain, Paris, 1948. © Adolfo Kaminsky
Still, he refuses to be paid. In 1971, he made his last false paper, and put a definitive end to this activity.
The Museum of Art and History of Judaism (mahJ) paid tribute in 2019 to this singular and little-known figure of the Resistance. We then discover that he is also a photographer whose work has long remained ignored due to his commitments, his natural discretion and his partly clandestine existence.
After the Liberation, however, he took thousands of photos, offering a chiaroscuro look at the world and Paris of those years.
What interests him is the popular. From the flea markets of Saint-Ouen to the neon lights of Pigalle, he captures Parisian looks and silhouettes with simplicity.
The Puncher, 1955 © Adolfo Kaminsky
Its snapshots that merge with the search for truth. These days, we can delight in the images of our astonishing contemporary, now in his nineties.
They are hung – as is fitting for a street photographer – on the street, on three sides of the railings of the Paris Centre town hall (the former town hall of the 3rd arrondissement) until February 26th . You must take the time to stop and look. And, with Kaminsky, immerse yourself once again in this lost Paris. So far away and yet so close.
Paris Center Town Hall
2 rue Eugène Spuller 75003, Paris
Monday to Friday from 8h30 to 17h
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Tel: 01 87 02 61 00
Adolfo Kaminsky, forger and photographer – © City Hall of Paris Centre
Text: Katia Barillot
13.01.22
