''Vu'', stylized as ''VU'', was a weekly French pictorial magazine, created and directed by Lucien Vogel, which was published from 21 March 1928 to 29 May 1940; it ran for 638 issues.

History

''Vu'' was the first large weekly to systematically feature photographs in essay form, and as such was an important precursor to, and proponent of, the magazine format of

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

(which came to prominence a decade after its print run in magazines such as ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' and '' Look'').

Innovation

Although inspired in part by the German magazine ''

Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung The ''Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung'', often abbreviated ''BIZ'', was a German weekly illustrated magazine published in Berlin from 1892 to 1945. It was the first mass-market German magazine and pioneered the format of the illustrated news magazine. ...

'', ''VU'' featured a constructivist aesthetic and was innovative in its layouts, especially in its double-page spreads, in which the layout artists were assisted by

rotogravure Rotogravure (or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process, which involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and flexography, it ...

from film positives of both type and

halftone Halftone is the reprographic Reprography (a portmanteau of ''reproduction'' and ''photography'') is the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means, such as photography or xerography. Reprography is commonly used in catal ...

images which could be easily cut and arranged on a

light box Light therapy, also called phototherapy or bright light therapy is intentional daily exposure to direct sunlight or similar-intensity artificial light in order to treat medical disorders, especially seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and circadi ...

, rather than using less flexible and more expensive metal halftone blocks.

Photography

Notable contributing photographers included

Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

Brassaï Brassaï (; pseudonym of Gyula Halász; 9 September 1899 – 8 July 1984) was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, medalist, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous H ...

, and

André Kertész André Kertész (; 2 July 1894 – 28 September 1985), born Andor Kertész, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition (visual arts), composition and the photo essay. In the early y ...

, but the sole staff photographer was the now lesser-known

Gaston Paris Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (; 9 August 1839 – 5 March 1903) was a French literary historian, philologist, and scholar specialized in Romance studies and medieval French literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 19 ...

1933-38 who made around 1,300 photos for the magazine. ''VU'' was particularly advanced in its use of the picture essay format. ''Vu'' encouraged photographers to use the newly available smaller cameras, the

medium-format Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&nbs ...

Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is the name of a long-running and diverse line of high-end cameras originally made by the German company Franke & Heidecke, and later Rollei-Werke. History The "Rolleiflex" name is most commonly used to refer to Rollei's premier ...

and

35mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

Leica, with faster lenses, high-speed (100 ASA in 1931) roll-film in high-capacity magazines, and rapid operation, facilitated them in producing striking imagery.

Content

The magazine published special issues on the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(''VU au pays des Soviets'', 18 November 1931), which was illustrated by Vogel, himself a keen photographer, on Germany (''L'énigme allemande'', 1932), the ascent of technology (''Fin d'une civilisation'', 1933), China (''Interrogatoire de la Chine'', 1934), and Spain (''VU en Espagne'', 1936). In 1931, Vogel founded a companion magazine named ''Lu'' (read), a survey of the foreign press translated into French; this merged with ''Vu'' in March 1937.

Legacy

A major retrospective was hosted by the

Maison Européenne de la Photographie The Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP; European house of photography), located in the historic heart of Paris, is a center for contemporary photographic art opened in February 1996. Location and activities The Hotel Henault de Cantobre, ...

(MEP) in late 2006/early 2007.

Selected contributors

* * * * * * * *

Bibliography

Notes

References

* * ; ; ; . * (2009 exhibition book); (2009 exhibition book). * ; ; . ::: Supplemental edition:

* ; ; . * (hardback); (e-book); . * ; (print), (print), (online).

External links

French clip of the 2006 MEP retrospective
1928 establishments in France 1940 disestablishments in France Defunct magazines published in France News magazines published in France French-language magazines Weekly magazines published in France Magazines established in 1928 Magazines disestablished in 1940 Magazines published in Paris Photojournalistic magazines