E-Photo
Issue #208  10/20/2014
 
Cinema Photography Dealer/Collector Didier 'Obsis' Grandsart Dies

By Alain Paviot

Didier Grandsart
Didier Grandsart

Didier "Obsis" Grandsart passed away earlier this month.

A great friend has gone, but he leaves such good memories behind that he doesn’t seem far away. He was an actor and an extra, vintage car lover, bookseller and cinema scholar. President of Les Cléopâtres, he always knew how to relate an anecdote from the film he was talking about. One of the creators of the cinema photography market, he was a breath of fresh air at the overly serious Paris Photo salon.

Courageous to the end, he kept his sense of humor and friendship, all too rare in this new century. We're sending our love to Annie, his wife and traveling companion, and hope that she will keep us dreaming, and that Didier will remain in the hearts of his friends, young and old.

Before scattering his ashes in the Cemetery of the Père Lachaise, in order to feel a little closer to him, I went back to his indispensable and, unfortunately, final book, Ultra Blonde, which can be read and watched without moderation.

Alain Paviot is a long-time Parisian photography dealer and auction expert. He is a long-time member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD).