Thames & Hudson has published a new monograph on the work of Louis Stettner, an American photographer who was active during the 20th century. Coinciding with a travelling retrospective exhibition which is currently on show at Fundación MAPFRE in Barcelona, this latest book charts the illustrious career of the late photographer, whose work has gone on to influence many contemporary practitioners.

Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Stettner discovered photography in his teenage years. A natural with the camera, he quickly honed his artistic practice, later joining the iconic Photo League in New York where he would rub shoulders with esteemed photographers such as Sid Grossman and Weegee. Founded in 1936, the Photo League was a cooperative of artists who joined together around a range of common social and creative causes.

Stettner also served as a combat photographer during World War II, working in the Pacific for a year. His experiences during this time would come to permeate his photography practice, with Stettner crediting this period as one of the key inspirations behind his work.

The fight against fascism left him with a life-long appreciation for the fundamental humanity of society, and he is quoted in the book as saying: “If my photographs have always been embedded in daily life with emphasis on what is called ‘the common man’, it is because my early formative years were deeply politicised by world events.”

Indeed, much of Stettner’s work deals with the everyday lives of the people that surrounded him, and like many photographers before and after him, he sought beauty in the quotidian. “We can marvel at Stettner’s spontaneous and empathetic artistry, making pictures out of the almost nothing of everyday life, turning non-moments into something momentous,” writes David Campany in the book.

Throughout the book, we see how this subject pervades his photography, and follows him from one context to another. In 1947, Stettner visited Paris, initially intending to stay for three weeks, but this trip would turn into a five-year-long relocation. During this time, he formed a close bond with the city and its people, and we can see the effect the move had on him in his work. Looking through his portfolio, we can find traces of “the lyrical humanism of the French tradition” that many of his contemporaries were also engaged in.

Following this, Stettner spent the rest of his life travelling between Paris and New York – his “two loves”, as he referred to them – and documenting the people he came across. Though influenced by the French photographic tradition, his aesthetic retained some of the grittiness of New York street photography.

Balancing the two, Stettner developed his own unique approach, and he applied this to his everyday subjects. In particular, he was interested in the working classes. Forever a humanist, Stettner’s imagery never feels exploitative, but rather respectful of their lives.

Writing in the book’s opening essay, curator Sally Martin Katz notes: “[Stettner’s] photographs and writings give a sense of his loyalty and unyielding commitment to his ideals, which he refused to compromise over the course of his long career. He lived his beliefs and remained true to his empathic, honorable, and bold approach to art and life.”

Louis Stettner is published by Thames & Hudson; thamesandhudson.com