Réalités (French magazine)

Réalités was a French monthly of the post World War II era which commenced publication in February 1946, flourishing during the Trente Glorieuses, a period of optimism, recovery and prosperity in France after the austerity of Occupation.

Editorial Objectives

The magazine's founders were Humbert Frerejean and Didier Rémon, the editor Alfred Max, and first artistic director Albert Gilou. They proclaimed an intention to produce a high-class, profusely-illustrated publication which was to be outward-looking after the years of Occupation during which information about the rest of the world was restricted.

Readership and influence

Colourful, slick and glossy, roughly A4 in size (slightly larger than 8 ½” x 11”), and costing 150 francs per issue (approximately equivalent to $US25-$US30 today), Réalités catered to the sophisticated and wealthy reader. Its content included stories on the economy and politics alongside articles of interest to tourists and on French culture. It was published by the Société d'études et publications économiques with funding from the 'Mission France' initiative of the Marshall Plan. It therefore also served to promote American culture and political influence in France and Europe, which was prompted by a pervasive American francophilia and perception of France as a frontier against Nazi resurgence and communist influence. There was an edition for the United States, 'Realities in America'.

Photography

Among its photographers were Édouard Boubat, Jean-Philippe Charbonnier, Émile Savitry, Jean-Louis Swiners, Gilles Ehrmann.

Cessation

Réalités magazine was most influential between the years 1950 and 1970, employing a journalistic style of long articles associated with pictorial illustration which is now generally replaced by other media. Its last edition was published in 1979.