There are, perhaps, three stages in one’s relationship with photography: ignorance, interest, and enthusiasm. Eric Colmet Daage lived in a fourth, an unrestrained passion. And unlike most of us, whose love for images tends to orbit one genre, Eric’s passion embraced them all: photojournalism, sports, fashion, fine art, historical archives, and documentary. If a photograph carried talent, originality, or surprise, Eric loved it. If it didn’t, he simply moved on, quietly trusting that missteps were temporary and the path would realign.
Born in Paris in 1948, Eric Colmet Daage studied at the Collège Saint‑Jean de Passy before joining the team at Photo magazine at its founding in 1967 as the assistant to the art director. He rose through the ranks, eventually becoming editor‑in‑chief, and was ultimately appointed editorial director in 2014.
Eric Colmet Daage as reported by a Google search
As art director of the French magazine PHOTO magazine, for a long time the definitive photographic reference in France, if not in Europe, Eric shaped the visual culture of generations. One of his favorite projects was the iconic Amateur Issue, built entirely from reader submissions. It meant long hours, endless edits, and sorting through oceans of uneven work, but Eric relished the challenge. He lived for those moments of discovery, when an unexpected image would stop him cold—the pearls among the gravel. And when he found a photographer he believed in, his support went beyond the pages of the magazine. He made calls, opened doors, and landed meetings no one else could. From the offices of the Filipacchi publishing empire, there was no door Eric couldn’t unlock if he thought you deserved it.
Photo magazine’s special amateur issue.
Yet for all his influence, Eric never positioned himself as the great arbiter of photography. He built careers, never destroyed them. He had his preferences, naturally, but his choices were guided by curiosity, not ego. He didn’t impose taste; he expanded it. In an industry where power often hides behind gatekeeping, Eric stood apart as an enabler, a catalyst.
That enthusiasm infused everything he did. Jovial, approachable, always open to conversation, he carried issues of PHOTO everywhere, eyes lit by a permanent sparkle. For him, the magazine and the photographers it celebrated came first; his own recognition came second, always.
But photography is an ungrateful mistress to those who champion it from behind the curtain. Eric’s fingerprints are everywhere in the visual culture of his time, and yet his name will remain unknown to most. Perhaps that is as he wanted it. Through PHOTO magazine, he gave us a lens onto the world, but he never asked to be in the frame. His legacy is the passion he carried, shared, and quietly wove into the history of photography.
