Janine Niépce

Who was Janine Niépce?

Janine Niépce was a French photographer. A cousin of Nicéphore Niépce, the pioneer of photography, she was born into a family of winemakers in Burgundy.

In 1944, Janine Niépce graduated a license for the history of art and of archeology at the Sorbonne. At the same time, she developed films for the French Resistance and took part in the liberation of Paris as a liaison officer. Niépce was one of the first photo-journalists in France. Beginning in 1946 she traveled extensively in France, recording changes in French culture and the contrast between life in the countryside, in the towns, and in the capital, Paris. Then from 1963 she began reporting from further afield in Europe and around the world, including Japan, Cambodia, India, USA, Canada.

In the 1970s, her work focused particularly on the women's liberation movement and its struggles for freedom of contraception, abortion and wage equality.

She was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1981.

From 1984 to 1986, she reported on researchers and technicians for the French Ministry of Research.

She became a Knight of the Legion d'Honor in 1985.