The Rapho agency was founded in Paris in 1933 by Charles Rado (1899-1979), a Hungarian immigrant. Rapho, an acronym formed from Rado-Photo, is one of the oldest press agencies specializing in humanist photography. Rapho initially represented the small group of Hungarian friends and refugee photographers Brassaï

Brassaï

Brassaï was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars...

, Nora Dumas, Ergy Landau and Ylla

Ylla

Ylla was the pseudonym of Camilla Koffler , a Hungarian photographer who specialized in animal photography. At the time of her death she "was generally considered the most proficient animal photographer in the world."...

.

Forced to close the agency during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Rado left for the US in 1940; Rapho was reopened in 1946 by Raymond Grosset. Rado opened the New York office, Rapho Guillumette Pictures, with photographer Paul Guillumette.

Rado and Grosset proceeded to gather a number of great photographers who they represented in varying capacities and sometimes shared: Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau

Robert Doisneau was a French photographer. In the 1930s he used a Leica on the streets of Paris; together with Henri Cartier-Bresson he was a pioneer of photojournalism...

, Édouard Boubat

Edouard Boubat

Edouard Boubat was a French art photographer.-Life and work:Boubat was born in Montmartre, Paris. He studied typography and graphic arts at the Ecole Estienne, and then worked for a printing company before becoming a photographer after WWII. He took his first photograph in 1946 and was awarded the...

, Denis Brihat, Jean Dieuzaide, Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt was an influential British photographer and photojournalist known for his high-contrast images of British society and his distorted nudes and landscapes.-Career and life:...

, Izis

Izis Bidermanas

Israëlis Bidermanas , who worked under the name of Izis, was a Jewish-Lithuanian photographer who worked in France and is best known for his photographs of French circuses and of Paris....

, André Kertész

André Kertész

André Kertész , born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his then-unorthodox camera angles and style prevented his work from gaining wider recognition...

, Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh, CC was a Canadian photographer of Armenian heritage, and one of the most famous and accomplished portrait photographers of all time.-Biography:...

, Jacques Henri Lartigue

Jacques Henri Lartigue

Jacques Henri Lartigue was a French photographer and painter.Born in Courbevoie to a wealthy family, he is most famous for his stunning photos of automobile races, planes and fashionable Parisian women from the turn of the century.He started taking photos when he was 7, his subject matter being...

, Janine Niépce

Janine Niépce

Janine Niépce was a French photographer. A cousin of Nicéphore Niépce, the pioneer of photography, she was born into a family of winemakers in Burgundy....

, Willy Ronis

Willy Ronis

Willy Ronis was a French photographer, the best-known of whose work shows life in post-war Paris and Provence.-Early life:...

, Emile Savitry, and Sabine Weiss.

In 1975, Rapho Guillumette Pictures was absorbed by Photo Researchers

Photo Researchers

is a stock photo agency that began in 1957, as many agencies did back then, by building a library from the outtakes of professional photographers.Photo Researchers has since become one of the leading sources of medical & science imagery...

. Two years later, Rapho acquired the TOP agency. In 2000, Rapho joined the Hachette Filipacchi Photos Group, which was sold in 2007 and is now the photo conglomerate EYEDEA.