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With Courage and Determination
With Courage and Determination
June 4, 2025
Marie-Laure de Decker, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in front of his television set on the evening of his election as President of the French Republic, Paris, 19.5.1974 © Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker (1947–2023) traversed the latter half of the 20th century with her Leica camera, capturing the great upheavals of her time. In an era when few women dared to do so, she made her mark in a male-dominated profession that was (and still is) built on passion, adrenaline, personal sacrifice, and risk. It was a life choice she pursued with extraordinary courage and fierce determination.
De Decker’s unique approach to photojournalism was characterised by a profound humanity. Instead of focusing on the shock value of crisis-zone reporting, she portrayed the violence of war in a different way – through the faces and stories of those who had lived through it. She also used her work as a tool in the fight for justice and equality. With a keen interest in the conditions of the working class, she documented numerous social struggles, including the protests of the 1968 uprising in France, the feminist demonstrations for abortion rights in Paris and Rome during the 1970s, and the resistance against the authoritarian regimes in Chile and South Africa between 1980 and 1990.
The exhibition is on view from June 4 to September 28, 2025.
Katrin UllmannDe Decker’s unique approach to photojournalism was characterised by a profound humanity. Instead of focusing on the shock value of crisis-zone reporting, she portrayed the violence of war in a different way – through the faces and stories of those who had lived through it. She also used her work as a tool in the fight for justice and equality. With a keen interest in the conditions of the working class, she documented numerous social struggles, including the protests of the 1968 uprising in France, the feminist demonstrations for abortion rights in Paris and Rome during the 1970s, and the resistance against the authoritarian regimes in Chile and South Africa between 1980 and 1990.
The exhibition is on view from June 4 to September 28, 2025.
Marie-Laure de Decker, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in front of his television set on the evening of his election as President of the French Republic, Paris, 19.5.1974 © Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker, Simone de Beauvoir at the Women’s Fair rally, Vincennes, 16–17.6.1973
© Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker, Performance of Golden Miles Bhudu, South Africa, 1989
© Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker, Catherine Deneuve, 1980s
© Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker, Saigon, Vietnam, 1971–1972
© Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker, South Africa, 1985–1994
© Marie-Laure de Decker
Marie-Laure de Decker, Vietnam, 1971
© Marie-Laure de Decker