Robert doisneau maurice banquet halls

For Photography Month, here is a brief look at one of the most memorable collaborations between a photographer and a cellist. Below is arguably one of the most famous cello photos, with the man holding his umbrella, not over himself, but over his cello case to shield it from the rain.

(Hands up, any of you who have done this.)

With its compositional beauty and humor, this photo represents the brilliant collaboration between photographer Robert Doisneau (14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994) and cellist Maurice Baquet (26 May 1911 – 8 July 2005).

Maurice Baquet

Maurice Baquet was a cellist, an actor, and an athlete.

Born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, his early cello studies were at the nearby Conservatoire de Lyon, and he continued at the Paris Conservatoire.

His classmates included Henri Betti (composer and pianist-accompanist of Maurice Chevalier from 1940 to 1945), Paul