Francoise Bornet, young woman in Robert Doisneau’s famous Paris kiss photograph, dies at 93

Photographs seize moments in a way that it brings back all the memories when you look back at them, but some photographs remain forever etched in history. The famous photograph of The Kiss by the Hotel de Ville in Paris, clicked by Robert Doisneau is one such photograph that will never grow old. 

Francoise Bornet, who was captured by the French photographer Dosineau in the photograph, recently passed away at the age of 93 but remains forever immortalised as a young lover in the picture.

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The famous photo was clicked in the 20th century, in postwar times, outside a hotel in Paris where two young lovers were seen in each other’s embrace kissing passionately. This photograph later became the romantic symbol of love in Paris.

Forever young lover in Doisneau’s Paris kiss photograph dies at 93

At the time when this photograph was clicked, Bornet was a 20-year-old drama student who was simply enjoying the days of young romance in Paris with her then-boyfriend Jacques Carteaud. Doisneau spotted the couple in a cafe and was already on a mission to capture a series of photos illustrating love in Paris for the American magazine Life.

Bornet later told French TV, “He said, ‘I’m Robert Doisneau, I find you both charming and wondered if you would accept to kiss again in front of my camera.’” They took several photos with him in different loications of Paris.

Last year, Bornet, living in Normandy told La Dépêche d’Évreux: “I was with my boyfriend. We couldn’t stop kissing. We were kissing all over the place, all the time. Robert Doisneau was in the bar, he asked us to pose for him.”

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Doisneau was all open about having the photo being staged rather than clicked like a random one. He was lauded for his ability to compose and capture a scene so expressively. He died in 1994.

When the photo was published in Life magazine, it didn't catch much attention. But it had a revival in the 1980s when it was transformed into posters and postcards capturing the romance of Paris, followed by a frenzy of merchandise from duvet covers to shower curtains, calendars and mugs.

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By the time the photo became popular, Bornet married another man after separating from Carteaud and also married him later. In 2005, she sold a copy of the original photo given to her by Doisneau, which was bought at auction and fetched the then very high sum of more than €150,000 ($164,244).

(With inputs from agencies)