Post-War Paris through the eyes of photojournalist Paul Almasy

One of the great chroniclers of 1950s and 1960s Paris, Paul Almasy, born in 1906, took about 120,000 black-and-white photos before he died at the age of 97.

A woman on a fairground ride with three men — Image caption

Fairground, circa 1960

Almasy, from Hungary, studied political science in Austria and Germany.

During World War Two, as a Swiss press correspondent based in Monaco, he reported from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, describing Paris as a city of “past, present, and future”.

A man sits and waits on a Metro platform with a giant poster behind him — Image caption

Passenger in the metro station Abbesses, circa 1965

Almasy adopted Paris as his home after the capital’s liberation in 1945 and became a French citizen in 1956, following the failed uprising against the Soviet-backed Hungarian government.

A woman drinks a coffee and reads a newspaper as she sits outside a cafe — Image caption

Woman in a street cafe, place Saint-Michel, circa 1956

He used a Leica and, later, a Rollei twin-lens reflex camera.

man stands on a ladder and puts up a billboard poster — Image caption

Bill sticker, 1950s

Post-War Paris was a place of developing culture and thought in areas such as literature, philosophy, fashion and New Wave cinema.

A couple kiss as they lean against a wall — Image caption

Young couple, Vert-Galant, Île de la Cité, 1961

From 1952, Almasy worked for international organisations, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Health Organization.