Jane Birkin in Paris, December 1974, 1974

Ralph Gatti  

Raph GATTI was born on May 31, 1936 in Nice, into a family of photographers. His parents owned a shop on Place Garibaldi, in the heart of the city.
Due to the untimely death of his father and in order to help his mother at the shop, he learned all the techniques of photography at a very young age. His curiosity, sensitivity and sense of aesthetics did the rest.
At eighteen, he left for Indochina in the Army's film service.
By photographing this country and its inhabitants, he became aware of the power of photojournalism, and this would be decisive in his professional choices.
A pivotal encounter occurred for him in 1958. A journalist from Nice named Louis Nucéra was looking for a photographer for an urgent assignment. In his studio, Villa Paradisio, the painter Raymond Moretti awaited him, along with the journalist. From this meeting blossomed an unbreakable friendship and a companionship between the three men, a bond that only death could sever.
While working successively as a freelance journalist for the newspaper Le Patriote, then for AFP where he became an employee in 1975, Raph multiplied his encounters and reports during which his "models" discovered, beyond his widely recognized professional talent, his respect for ethics and people, his discretion and his formidable sympathy which made him appreciated by both anonymous people and celebrities.
These qualities opened many doors for him, particularly those of celebrities and artists who were abundant on the French Riviera at that time.
Not one of them has shied away from his objective, whether in the fields of literature, painting, music, sport, politics, or business.
The collection of photos he left behind is impressive and testifies to an extremely rich period in the cultural activity of the French Riviera.
For decades, he covered major events and festivals.
the most prestigious ones which took place in Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, Nice, Monaco, Menton and the Var department, in Saint-Tropez in particular.
The most famous artists and the most recognized personalities received him in their private lives because they were certain that no photograph would ever be released without their consent.
In 1988, he left AFP to join Nice-Matin, where he continued the same activity for the local daily newspaper.