Fernand Fonssagrives (June 8, 1910 - April 23, 2003) born near Paris, France he was a photographer known for his 'beauty photography' in the early 1940s, and as the first husband of the model Lisa Fonssagrives. He died in 2003 at Little Rock, Arkansas.
Fonssagrives was married in 1935 to his first wife Lisa, whom he met at a dance school in Paris, and both became dancers. He said that he gave up dancing after he was injured in a diving accident. As a gift for recuperation Lisa gave Fernand a Rolleiflex camera.[1] In the process of learning He became an important photographer and Lisa became an important model. He turned to photography and was a fashion photographer in the 1940s and 1950s when he took pictures for Town and Country and Harper's Bazaar magazines. They divorced in 1950.
Fonssagrives's second marriage—to Diane Capron, a professional figure skater and teacher—also ended in divorce. The native Frenchman lived the last 30 years of his life in Little Rock, Arkansas. His later pictures featured female nudes with patterns of light on their skin. He was a true artist. He was a professional dancer, One of the top three photographers in NYC and at one point the highest paid photographer in New York. He was an award winning sculptor working in Bronze, an avid painter who wrote prolifically. His photographic works are represented in Europe by Michael Hoppen Photography (London) and in the United States by Bonni Benrubi (New York) An image he created of his first wife Lisa is on the cover of the Spring Christie's photographic auction catalog (2008).
Fonssagrives was survived by a daughter from his first marriage, Mia Fonssagrives-Solow, who is a sculptor and jewelry designer, and a son from his second marriage, Marc Fonssagrives.