Documentary, modernism, surrealism

: the photography of Denise Bellon, 1934-1965

Abstract

This thesis examines the work of French photographer Denise Bellon (1902-1999) and its intersections with documentary, modernist, and surrealist photography. With a focus on Bellon's most active professional period, between 1934 and 1965, this study argues that the combination of these visual modes defined her photographic practice and maximised the circulation of her photographs. Using individual photographs and photographic series as evidence, this project engages in an archival approach that analyses Bellon’s work and its circulation in the photo-press, photobooks, and exhibitions. Over four chapters, it demonstrates how Bellon’s documentary practice was rooted in photojournalism and modern French photographic criticism. It explores how her connections to the surrealist group influenced her documentary work. It also examines how her photographic subject matter was entrenched in the everyday, with particular attention to labour. The first chapter analyses Bellon’s surrealist photography and documentation of surrealist spaces of gathering. The second chapter assesses her photography in Northern Africa in comparison to French colonial photography in the press and across artistic networks. The third chapter argues that Bellon’s photography during and around the Second World War mixed surrealist and modernist visual techniques. The final chapter explores Bellon’s depiction of French labour as an aesthetic and political subject. Working thematically rather than chronologically, this thesis demonstrates that the overlapping categories in Bellon’s photography were intentional in her practice and characteristic of their wide circulation in French visual culture.

Date of Award	2 Dec 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Natalie Adamson (Supervisor)