{"id":5382820,"date":"2025-03-04T15:22:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T15:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/?p=5382820"},"modified":"2025-03-04T15:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T15:22:06","slug":"albert-camus-intellectual-titan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.life.com\/arts-entertainment\/albert-camus-intellectual-titan\/","title":{"rendered":"Albert Camus: Intellectual Titan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: “Camus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun\u2014the human spirit.” The line came from a review of Camus’ book “Lyrical and Critical Essays.”<\/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\n\n\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 “The Myth of Sisyphus.”<\/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\n\n\n

LIFE’s 1957 story about Camus carried the headline “Action-Packed Intellectual” and began with the note that he “jealously guards his privacy.” 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, “I 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.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most famous photo from Dean’s shoot\u2014which is also one of the most popular images in LIFE’s 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\n\n\n

In the original story the image of Camus on the balcony ran with this quote from him: “I don’t like to work sitting down. I like to stand up\u2014even at my desk. I probably need to wear myself out.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the kind of intellectual who could become popular\u2014one who doesn’t take anything sitting down.<\/p>\n\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

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

Loomis Dean\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n\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 <\/div>\n <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: “Camus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun\u2014the human spirit.” The line came from a review of Camus’ book “Lyrical and Critical Essays.” And the fact that LIFE was reviewing such books at all is … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5382825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28],"tags":[2494,2495,1051],"class_list":["post-5382820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-people","tag-albert-camus","tag-caligula","tag-loomis-dean"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbert Camus: Intellectual Titan - LIFE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/arts-entertainment\/albert-camus-intellectual-titan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Albert Camus: Intellectual Titan - LIFE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: “Camus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun\u2014the human spirit.” The line came from a review of Camus’ book “Lyrical and Critical Essays.” And the fact that LIFE was reviewing such books at all is ... 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