Portraits d'écrivains

As a correspondent in Switzerland for numerous European and American newspapers and magazines, photographer and reporter Yves Debraine (Paris, 1925 - Lausanne, 2011) crossed paths with a myriad of figures from the worlds of sport, science, culture, and the arts throughout his career. The portraits he took of these personalities, sometimes the result of fleeting encounters, sometimes of long-standing relationships, filled the pages of the international press, notably *L'Illustré, Paris Match, L'Express, Stern, Epoca, Life, Time, and National Geographic.*
Writers occupy a special place in this illustrious gallery of photographic archives. They are captured in black and white, in posed portraits or candid shots, in their favorite landscapes or in their writing spaces. Captured at the heart of their literary work, poets, novelists, and philosophers reveal themselves in the book *De Cocteau à Simenon: portraits d'écrivains* (From Cocteau to Simenon: portraits of writers), edited by his son Luc Debraine and published by Editions Noir sur Blanc.
Echoing this tribute to the photographer, the Jan Michalski Foundation is exhibiting a selection of his images in the library, inviting visitors to encounter Ella Maillart, Jean Giono, Vladimir Nabokov, Georges Simenon, Patricia Highsmith, Jean Cocteau, Jacques Chessex, and Marcel Pagnol.
###### Opening reception and discussion:

* Thursday, October 30, starting at 6 p.m., discussion at 7 p.m. followed by a cocktail reception.
* Free admission, online reservation required
A discussion with Luc Debraine, journalist, former director of the Swiss Camera Museum, and head of the Yves Debraine Archives, addressing the various facets of the profession of press photographer, the art of portraiture, and the challenges associated with preserving and promoting a large photographic archive.
Moderator: Stéphane Gobbo, journalist at Le Temps.

###### Guided tours:

* Thursday, November 6 at 6 p.m.
* Thursday, December 4 at 6 p.m.
* Thursday, January 17 at 6 p.m.
* Free admission, online reservation required
A guided tour of the exhibition, a photographic tribute to the act of writing, by Luc Debraine.

Opening hours:

* Tuesday to Sunday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
* Closed on December 19, 24, 25, 26, and 31, 2025