Humanist Photography
A postwar movement, strongest in France, that photographed ordinary life with warmth and an emphasis on shared human experience.
In depth
Humanist photographers worked in streets, cafés and markets, finding affection and humour in daily life at a moment when Europe was rebuilding. The approach was later criticised for sentimentality and for smoothing over conflict, but it shaped the popular idea of what a photograph of everyday life should feel like.
Examples in practice
A picture of children playing in a rubble-strewn street, framed for warmth rather than for evidence of hardship.