Draft:Jeanne Devos

Jeanne Devos (10 February 1902 – 18 June 1989) was a French photographer.

Life
Jeanne Devos grew up in Bailleul. In 1923, as her tuberculosis worsened, she went to Corsica and studied photography (on autochromes and stereoscopy). She worked as a governess in the parish church. She visited the colonial exhibition in Paris in 1931, Biarritz, Lourdes, Sologne, and Périgord. Around 1933, she met Joseph Dezitter, a cabinetmaker, watercolourist and sculptor. From 1936 onwards, she travelled around Flanders where she took many photos about rural and traditional life in Flanders, trades, and festivals.

On 7 September 1944, during the liberation of Bissezeele, Father Lamps and Jeanne Devos took more than 150 photographs of the passage of the 5th Canadian Infantry Brigade.

In 1945, Father Lamps retired. He and Jeanne moved from Bissezeele to Wormhout. She then decided to become a professional photographer. She took photographs of weddings. This was innovative since it is the first to offer documentation of the wedding day, including in the church (which was very frowned upon by the religious authority at the time).

In 1946 and 1959, Jeanne Devos took pictures of General de Gaulle during his visit to Bergues and then during his visit to Wormhout. She also photographed Paul Reynaud on numerous occasions, notably in a wheat field (which is unconventional for a politician of this importance). Between 1968 and 1980, she was the subject of several television and radio reports and broadcasts. She met Bernard and Catherine Claeys as well as Pierre Bonte. She retired in 1978 and sold her house as a life annuity to the municipality of Wormhout, after ensuring that it became a museum after her death. In 1980, she opened it to the public.

When she died, Jeanne was buried in her garden where she was laid to rest next to Father Joseph Lamps, who died in 1952.

The Flemish Committee of France, to which Jeanne Devos donated her photographic collection, decided to archive it at the Iconographic Centre of Flanders, based at the media library in Wormhout. It includes more than 100,000 photos.

Works

 * Jeanne Devos raconte, Westhoek Editions, 1987 (ISBN 2903077703)
 * La Flandre de Jeanne Devos, éditions Helio Tourcoing, 1994
 * Le Petit Monde de l'abbé Lamps, éditions Helio Tourcoing 1995