Photographer Louis Monier took photographs of French philosophers; Denis Huisman wrote the accompanying texts. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable introductory Who's Who of the sages and madmen. There are faces I like and others I don't. Sometimes the visual image works so forcefully to make you decide: I'm done with this person because I don't like his/her face. Tant pis! But with our time in life limited, I don't think it's altogether a bad idea to throw away books written by authors whose faces you can't agree with!
There are faces I see for the first time. Such as Desanti, Dagognet, J.-P. Faye. Others of course are familiar.
My picks are Lyotard (whom I have always admired), Debray (with his strong sense of latinité), Edgar Morin (with his bonhomme-ish Jewish smile), J.-F. Revel (militant-looking like a dogo argentino), and Clément Rosset (the chubby bohemian).
Faces may not tell it all, but they do tell something in sound and fury.
