Duane Michals, the American photographer known for his narrative sequences and hand-written texts, died on June 9 in New York at age 94. A self-taught artist, he rejected photojournalism's "decisive moment" and instead created photographic series that explored identity, desire, memory, time, death, and spirituality. His work is currently featured in the exhibition "Fragile Beauté. Photographies de la collection de Sir Elton John et David Furnish" at the Jeu de Paume in Paris.
Michals matters because he fundamentally expanded the possibilities of photography as a medium for storytelling and philosophical inquiry. By combining sequential images with handwritten text, he invented a deeply personal visual language that influenced generations of artists. His portraits of figures like Magritte, Duchamp, Warhol, and Hockney are iconic, and his candid depictions of homosexuality were groundbreaking for their era. His work remains a vital reference for contemporary photography and narrative art.