Founding members
Members from 1948
Professional organisation
Annual exhibitions of their work were organised by André Garban, assisted in the background by Emmanuel Sougez, founder in 1937 of the group Le Rectangle, a predecessor Parisian photographer association active until all professional organisations were dissolved during theEthos
The group's manifesto echoes that of Le Rectangle, providing a continuum between the 1930s and the immediate post-war:"loving above all their profession, animated by the same faith and eager to endow photographic art of quality works, each ..member formally commits himself to respect the spirit of loyalty, frankness and mutual assistance which is the very basis of the grouping".They espoused:
"Respect for process! - Real photography - The perfect negative - And if possible, no retouching; that ‘maid-of-all-work’ to the bad photographer! No blur either; such a "myopic style"! And as much as possible new ideas, new angles, originality .. Our tradition:Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ..., Nadar, Atget,Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ..., Cartier-Bresson."
Defining the status of the profession
All members were professionals in both their motivation and in deriving their income from commissions with, among other outlets, magazines ''Plaisir de France'' and ''Réalités'' favouring their work during the boom in pictorial magazines. The chief chronicler of Les Groupe des XV, Marcel Bovis, in particular, was concerned with the status of their medium:"At a time when the profession of photographer-illustrator is classed with manufacturers of funerary wreaths, it is above all a question of asserting the notion of profession by a demanding conception of photography in all fields".1946, the year of the group's founding, was in a period in which professional organisations and the place of the arts and crafts within them was being reassessed, Le Groupe des XV also created, as an annex to the group, the Society of Illustrators and Author Photographers: the SIAP. This entity administered by the XV replaced the Artisanal Professional Groups of the 1940s, enforcing copyright and reproduction, the code of ethics and pricing, without forgetting "to create between its members links of confraternity".
Exhibitions
For the annual exhibitions of Le Groupe des XV, Garban secured venues at the Galerie Jean Pascaud, 165Humanist photography
The group had in common an interest in documenting the life of the street as a representation of French culture and valued the contribution of Surrealism and of theReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groupe Des XV, Le 20th-century French photographers Street photographers Arts organizations French photography organizations Humanist photographers Photo agencies Cooperatives in France Professional associations based in France 1946 establishments in France