The images from An American in Paris© were taken by Joseph R. Lepp in Paris, France while he was serving as a captain in the United States Marine Corps in the 1950s. He lived in Paris with his wife and children. His love for his family and the Corps lives on. His love for Paris is reflected in this collection.
Excerpt from soon to be published An American in Paris©photo book:
"...My father was born in 1925 in upstate New York. I was privileged to see him interact as a husband with my mother Josephine (Jo), as a son, a grandson, an uncle, a friend, a nephew, a brother to my godfather, an in-law and a Marine. But his most profound contribution was as a father to my sisters, my brother and me. It is through this relationship that I first began to glimpse the vivid translation of his love for us, dedication to beauty and accomplishment through the images he produced over his lifetime.
It was through his images of Paris in the 1950s that I discovered my father was not perfect and not ordinary. For how could anyone plebian produce such beauty, facile yet intricate, full of intimacy, innuendo and candor...
Joe Lepp was a loving, courageous, handsome and talented man with a zest for life. He captured in his work a confluence of light, beauty and romance.
I am forever grateful that we were paired up by the fates.
An American In Paris © is a tribute to my father. He is in a place where I cannot see him, but his abiding love, character and the renascence of his photography is with me every day, whenever I pass by the images that he has left to us."
Nancy L. Robertson