{"id":396,"date":"2025-03-04T14:22:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T15:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/?p=396"},"modified":"2025-04-25T14:54:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T14:54:48","slug":"albert-camus-intellectual-titan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/04\/albert-camus-intellectual-titan\/","title":{"rendered":"Albert Camus: Intellectual Titan"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: \u201cCamus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun\u2014the human spirit.\u201d The line came from a review of Camus\u2019 book \u201cLyrical and Critical Essays.\u201d<\/a> And the fact that LIFE was reviewing such books at all is a throwback to a time when mainstream American media regularly chronicled the doings of French intellectuals.<\/p>\n

LIFE ran its biggest story on Camus in October 1957,<\/a> right around the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature<\/a> for fictional works such as The Stranger, The Plague and The Fall, and philosophical writings such as \u201cThe Myth of Sisyphus.\u201d<\/a> Camus was a mere 44 years old at the time, and he remains the second-youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, after Rudyard Kipling.<\/p>\n

LIFE\u2019s 1957 story about Camus carried the headline \u201cAction-Packed Intellectual\u201d and began with the note that he \u201cjealously guards his privacy.\u201d But the author relented enough to allow LIFE staff photographer Loomis Dean<\/a> a rare window into his life. Dean documented Camus at his publishing office, at home with his family, and preparing to direct a staging of his play Caligula<\/a>. Camus declared to LIFE, \u201cI consider myself an artist first, almost exclusively. What is an artist? Principally a vital force, and of that, frankly, I think I have almost too much. It wears me out.\u201d <\/p>\n

The most famous photo from Dean\u2019s shoot\u2014which is also one of the most popular images in LIFE\u2019s online print store<\/a>\u2014is of Camus standing on the balcony of his Paris publishing offices. Camus looks like an avatar of 1950s intellectual cool. He even takes a drag on a cigarette, a throwback to the days when smoking was less taboo.<\/p>\n

In the original story the image of Camus on the balcony ran with this quote from him: \u201cI don\u2019t like to work sitting down. I like to stand up\u2014even at my desk. I probably need to wear myself out.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of intellectual who could become popular\u2014one who doesn\u2019t take anything sitting down.<\/p>\n

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French author Albert Camus at the office of his Paris publishing house, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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French author and philosopher Albert Camus stands with an unidentified woman and reads one of a number of letters on a balcony outside his publishing office, Paris, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus leaned against a radiator in his office, Paris, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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French author Albert Camus, on the set of his play Caligula, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus directed a rehearsal of his play Caligula, Paris 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus directed actors during a rehearsal of his play \u2018Caligula.\u2019 Paris, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus smoked a cigarette outside Theatre des Mathurins, where the rehearsals of his play Caligula were taking place, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus kissed actress Dominique Blanchar after a rehearsal of his play Caligula, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus and actress Dominique Blanchar after a rehearsal of his play Caligula, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus (center) rehearsed with actors for his play Caligula at an outdoor Shakespeare theater in Paris, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Albert Camus (center, next to woman in glasses) dined with a group at a Paris restaurant, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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French author Albert Camus sitting in the garden of his Paris home with his 11-year-old twins Jean and Catherine, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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French author Albert Camus poised at home with his 11-year-old twins Jean and Catherine, 1957.<\/p>\n

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The post Albert Camus: Intellectual Titan<\/a> appeared first on LIFE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: \u201cCamus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun\u2014the human spirit.\u201d The line came from a review of Camus\u2019 book \u201cLyrical and Critical Essays.\u201d And the fact that LIFE was reviewing such books at all is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":412,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396\/revisions\/412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}