The Robert Doisneau station in Carlux, in Périgord Noir

This former Carlux station, so typical, had fallen into oblivion, until a photo from 1939 resurfaced…

On this shot, we see Pierrette, wife of the photographer, as well as three of the photographer’s friends standing in front of the station…

An idea then germinated in the Commune Community of Pays de Fénelon: that of installing the tourist office in the station, but also a museum dedicated to the artist. A few years later, the Robert Doisneau station opened its doors in the spring of 2018.

It is therefore a permanent exhibition dedicated to the great Doisneau that can be admired in this free place of culture. The museography revolves around the work of the artist, offering a real focus on his photographs taken in Périgord and its region.

Because, in addition to taking photos for his own pleasure, Doisneau worked for the Souillac tourist office, which bought him the photo rights to publish postcards. Souillac, a town in the Lot department, is not far from Carlux. The great Doisneau also took a series of images for the famous Rougié foie gras in Sarlat.

In this free museum, you can admire some beautiful slices of life that the photographer knew how to immortalize better than anyone, with an eye that is both benevolent and full of mischief. Besides, did he not say: “a hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there, put end to end, it only ever makes one, two, three seconds stolen from eternity”.

A space also makes it possible to better understand how silver photography works and in particular development in a darkroom. A real discovery for the youngest who were born with digital photography.

The Doisneau station is also a place of temporary exhibition. At the moment, a very green exhibition is the result of a photo contest dedicated to pollinators as part of the action “Aux abeilles citoyen! » initiated and supported by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region.

Article produced thanks to the competition of the magazine “L’Edition Périgord”.