Janine Niépce

She was one of the first French women to practice the profession of reporter-photographer in 1946 and traveled across France for several years bearing witness to what was disappearing and what was born (the first television in 1963, new rapid means of transport), the relationship between towns and the countryside, the differences between Paris and the provinces. From 1963, she traveled in Europe and around the world: Japan, Cambodia, India, United States, Canada. In Paris, she is dressed as a foreign tourist, and she covered the events of May 68.

Between 1970 and 1980, she focused on women's struggles for contraceptive freedom, I.V.G., and equal pay. From 1984 to 1986, she produced several reports on researchers and technicians for the French Ministry of Research. She was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1981 and Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1985.

The “Visa pour l'Image” festival in 2000 pays homage to her, emphasizing her role in the history of photography: Janine Niépce has consistently followed the evolution of women's lives for half a century.

From 1965 to May 2010, her images were distributed by the Rapho agency in the French and international press and to publishing. From 2000 to 2007, she worked at the international school of photography Spéos and actively supported the creation of the Maison Nicéphore Niépce museum. A member of the "Gens d´Images" association, she was also, for years, the president of the famous Niépce Prize.

Janine Niépce died on August 5, 2007.