Roland Barthes' last photoshoot

I was pleased to launch my new photography portrait blog on November 12, which is Roland Barthes' birthday.  Here he's photographed by Michel Delaborde at his home on rue Servandoni, February 5, 1980. Twenty days later, Barthes was knocked down by a laundry van while walking home from a lunch with François Mitterand. He died a month later.

This is spooky. The contact sheet (planche contact in French) from Michel Delaborde's photoshoot with Roland Barthes, twenty days before his fatal accident. He just fades away...

These photos are from the wonderful Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine.