The sound of rain in photographs by Willy Roni

The photographer has two ways to capture this world: on the one hand, he can capture its horrors, on the other — to purify it. For example, Willy Ronis chose the second way. He likes the way rain, snow and "bad weather" awaken a romantic mood in people, mainly in big cities.

These elements seem to him an excellent basis for photography — an unused visual universe with the power of expressiveness and the richness of gentle light. Most of us simply don't notice this universe because we're too busy trying not to get caught in the rain. People become ghostly silhouettes that go somewhere and obey the whims of rain or snow…

Frenchman Willy Rony is a world-famous classic of photo reportage, who is included in the list of the most respected masters of the humanistic direction in photography along with Robert Doisneau and Edouard Bouba. He is primarily known for numerous photographs of Paris and the Provence region in the decades before and after World War II.

Willy Ronis was born in Paris on August 14 , 1910 in a Jewish family: his father emigrated from Odessa (Ukraine), and the mother is from Lithuania. From a young age, Roni helped his father with printing and retouching in a photo workshop, but found the environment in the studio depressing. He was fond of drawing and music, often visited the Louvre, studying old masters, and at the age of 15 he received a Kodak camera as a gift from his father and began photographing.

Having become a talented violinist, Willy Rony found similarities between music and photography. He said that three planes in one picture are like three different melodies in a fugue that combine to bring the individual parts to harmony. In 1932, Roni's father fell ill. This forced him to give up music and do things in the studio.

Willy Roni's early photographs belong to the reporting genre and are devoted to public unrest, street demonstrations and the rise of the left Popular Front. But most of all he is remembered for his romanticized vision of Paris and its inhabitants, becoming the leading master of French humanistic photography.

He wandered the streets of Belleville and Menilmontane with a camera in his hands, capturing spontaneous moments. But Roni is not a detached and impartial street photographer. His shots are imbued with a sense of closeness and sympathy, as the author knew and understood Parisians well.

Willy Rony not only actively shot, but also taught photography, and was awarded numerous awards. He died in Paris on September 12, 2009 at the age of 99.