Blog - Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir & Jean Paul Sarte in Photo Shooting Gallery

Above is a photograph of the philosophers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre taken at the Porte d' Orleans fairground in Paris in 1929. They are at a carnival attraction known as the photographic shooting gallery. Popular after World War I, the skill game required the player shoot and hit the center of a target and if they did, a camera shutter would trigger and the winner would get a photograph of him or herself (shooting the gun).  How de Beauvoir hit the target with her eyes closed is a mystery! The analogies between shooting a gun and shooting a camera have always fascinated artists and intellectuals. The photograph above and many others including work by contemporary artists were... Read more Jean Paul Sarte, photographic shooting gallery, Simone de Beauvoir