Famous photos

A kiss is just... a $259,000 memory

By Vanessa Czarnecki
Paris
April 27, 2005

Francoise Bornet at the spot in Paris where Robert Doisneau photographed the classic The Kiss at City Hall. Ms Bornet, who posed for the picture in 1950, sold her original print at auction.
Photo: Reuters

The woman in Robert Doisneau's classic photograph of a couple kissing passionately on a Paris street sold her original print for 155,000 euros ($A259,000) at an auction - about 10 times the expected sale price.
An unidentified Swiss buyer bought The Kiss at City Hall.
Auctioneer Herve Poulain said he believed the price was among the highest ever for a 20th century photograph.
The photograph was put up for auction by Francoise Bornet - a former actress who claims she and an old flame were the subjects. It was taken in 1950 and became famous in 1986 when reprinted as a poster.
The black-and-white picture of a couple kissing in front of City Hall, with harried passers-by fading into the background, affirmed Paris' reputation as the city of blissful love.
That it was not a spontaneous snapshot was confirmed when Bornet sued Doisneau for a percentage of sales of the photo. The court in June 1993 rejected her claims, though the case forced Doisneau to confess to having used professionals instead of a couple caught off guard.
He was working on a photo series about lovers in Paris for Life magazine, when he approached Bornet and her boyfriend to pose. The photo later appeared in Life.

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Bornet expressed no regret about parting with the photograph. "In any case, this kiss is engraved in my memory," she said. "It's a wonderful memory, is all. I don't need the image to remember it."
- AP