Maurice Tabard French, 1897-1984

Born in Lyon, Maurice Tabard was destined for the violin, but naturally became a silk designer in a Lyon factory. In 1914, his father took him with him on a business trip to the United States. He enrolled him at the New York Institute of Photography and Tabard set up his first photography studio.

In 1928, he returned to France, became a fashion photographer for various magazines and obtained commissions for advertising. From then on, he began to study the components of a photograph: objects, their shapes, materials, lighting, formal connections rather than their appearance. 

A set photographer in the early 1940s, he also made documentary films. In 1946, he returned to the United States where he divided his time between working for Harper’s Bazaar and teaching.