A leading figure in French photojournalism, Jacques Boissay died Tuesday at the age of 88 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, his family told AFP. Known for having covered Charles de Gaulle for France-Soir in the 1960s, he also leaves behind more than half a century of work and thousands of images published in France and abroad, according to his relatives.
From “I have understood you” to tours in the provinces
His first encounter with history dates back to June 1958: while working for the Army Film Service, he photographed de Gaulle in Algeria, at the very moment the Prime Minister uttered the famous "I have understood you." The following year, he joined France-Soir, the future giant of the popular press headed by Pierre Lazareff, and climbed the ranks to become head of the photo department. Throughout official trips, he captured the Head of State on film, both at the Élysée Palace and on the road, until the end of de Gaulle's presidency in 1969.
A firsthand perspective, far removed from the label “photographer of De Gaulle”
In 2011, he published *De Gaulle en campagne* (De Gaulle on the Campaign Trail), a book that brings together these scenes from the perspective of ordinary French people. Interviewed in 2015 by *Le Parisien* during an exhibition, he recounted, among other things, a picnic in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises prepared by Yvonne de Gaulle, interrupted by a farmer who mocked them, mistaking them for Parisians, without recognizing them. Far from wanting to be defined by a single subject, Jacques Boissay emphasized in the same interview that he had rubbed shoulders with "everyone and everyone" in French political life. After *France-Soir*, he moved to *Le Nouvel Économiste* in 1976, then finished his career in communications for Générale des Eaux, which later became Veolia.
