The Beatles salute, 1964, 1964

Roger Kasparian  

Born in Paris in 1938, Roger Kasparian, son of an operator for the Harcourt studio, learned on the job the techniques of shooting. In 1962, he met Jean-Dominique Kieffer-Turian, a freelance photographer, notably for Paris-Jour, He is looking for a photographer but especially a photographer with a car.

This collaboration lasted until 1963, before Roger launched a free lance. At the same time, we witnessed the birth of a whole generation of young musicians: the "Yéyés".

Roger is their age, he predicts that this explosion is much more than a short-lived fashion, he needs accessible subjects, he becomes a musical photographer. During the magical decade of the 60's, dozens of renowned artists Or any young beginners. Among them: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Serge Gainsbourg, The Who, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, The Animals, Marianne Faithfull, Them, Troggs, Yardbirds, Little Stevie Wonder, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Wanda Jackson, Piaf , Brel, Brassens, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Monk, Francoise Hardy, Hallyday, France Gall, Dutronc and the entire French Yéyé scene.

These artists are young, first astonished by what is happening to them, things are simple, they are accessible. Very often, Roger is one of the few people who await them at Le Bourget Airport and then accompanies them to their hotel, On the stage during the scales and the concert.

This intimacy allows him to make clichés worked but also very natural. For ten years, he will collaborate with various newspapers (Cine Revue, Stern, France-Soir, Salut les Amis, ...), propose his photos to the publishers for the record sleeves (Kinks, Hallyday, Claude François, Faithfull, Animals ... ) And will be one of the permanent photographers of the Europe 1 "Musicorama" program.

In the early 70's, yesterday's unknowns have become stars that are often inaccessible. The Yéyé wave is running out of steam, Roger decides to stop this "youth trick" to become "serious" again. He took over the Boissières studio (his father's former studio) on a full-time basis, making photographs of identity, weddings (the best photography school according to him), communions and other municipal councils and working, For the Armenian community. Although some emblematic photos have never ceased to appear, Roger stands out completely from this period for 40 years.

In 2011, by an improbable contest of circumstances, he meets a collector of vinyl records which, subjugated by the volume and the quality of the photographs, will try during 2 years to convince him to show his photos. In June 2013, Snap Galleries (specialist of the Rock photo in London), devotes a first exhibition, revealing a small part of his work. It will be followed in September by ArtClub Gallery place Bellecour in Lyon.