Who is André Abbe: biography of the photographer and journalist

But where does this almost limitless intellectual curiosity of André Abbe come from? Perhaps because he was born in Roquebrune/Argens during the Disembarkation in Provence in August 1944. As he was preparing to take his first impulse, the village doctor refused to come and assist him while the crash of the first shells sounded around. It is surely from these moments that the determination of André to always go from the vanquished vanquish that is worth.

Born into a family of farmers, he bifurcated to adulthood from the line. It was at the time when one could still go almost to the Far East or cross the Sahara to Mali or Niger with random DIY cars. Since then, his travels have never stopped. Its peregrinations throughout Occitania and in the regions of Europe neither. Each stop is the occasion of human encounters of profound richness. Over time he accumulated a highly supplied photographic documentation. Its background is now close to 100,000 slides of which 13,000 are already digitized.

In addition to his travels, he began a professional journalistic activity, collaborating in both French and Provençal for various publications. Very soon he became a producer at Radio France in Marseille and then in France 3 where he participated in the magazine Vaqui. He also directed some Occitan documentaries, including a very beautiful subject on Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms.

He also found time to publish a few books, two of which were abundantly illustrated on the transhumance which he made several times at the departure of Roquebrune/Argens to the high altitudes of the Alpes Maritimes or Haute-Provence.

Now, the time has come for André Abbe, assisted by his son François, to put in order and value the immense collection of documentation constantly enriched over the years. This while listening to this baroque music of which he has always been so greedy.

Daniel Bizien

January 2024