He lives and works in Neuville S/Ain

Repères :    

1919 - Il nait à Lyon, dans le quartier de la Croix-Rousse.
1932 - Il est initié à la photographie par Edouard Bron,
beau pére de Théo Blanc, Antoine Demilly. Il fait ses 
clichés avec une petite chambre en bois à plaques.
1939-Il obtient un prix au concours Blanc et Demilly à Lyon.
1940-45 - Il est  envoyé aux Chantiers de jeunesse et sera 
déporté dans un camp de travail allemand en 1940.
1949-58 -Il expose à chacun des Salons Internationaux 
organisés à Lyon par le cercle d´Art Photographique.
1958 - Il reçoit le prix Niepce à Paris et le titre excellence 
lui est décerné par FIAP.
1959-65 - Il participe à la création du groupe Lyonnais
Forme et Lumière, exposant dans les differents pays.
1973 - Fondation du groupe Forum.
1977-87- Salon du Sud-Est à Lyon.
1995- Il obtient le prix du Conseil Général du Rhône pour la
a rédaction d´un livre : Blanc et Demilly.
1996 - Rétrospective " Regards"
1935-1995- 60 ans de photographie-Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon. 2000 - Exposition "Transparences" maison des Arts Contemporains à Pérouges - La Capitale Galerie, Paris 
2001 - Expo"Figures", Maison des Arts Pls. Rhône-Alpes - Salon du Sud-Est, Lyon Acquisition de la Ville de Lyon 2002, Exposition " le cabinet de curiosités", Centre d´Art Contemporain de Lacoux.
"Tête de noeuds et gueules de bois", La Capitale Galerie, Paris (en permanence )
2007- "mes humanismes des années 40 et 50", La Capitale Galerie, Paris

 Repères bibliographiques : 
Le piéton de Lyon, texte de Jean-Yves Loud, Paris, 1982 -" Blanc et Demilly  40 ans de photographies à Lyon", texte de René Basset, 1995 - Regards : catalogue de l´exposition monographique, 1996.

Extracts:

The History of Picture with René Basset
"From the cave age till nowadays, the man has always tried to illustrate his feelings or activities with drawings or paintings: rupestrian paintings, engravings, canvas, frescos, lithographs set up a long progress by which, from discoveries to invention, he got to photography. But what a long way ran from the first Daguerre photographic device to nowadays digital camera. As a genuine argentic memory of photography, René Basset captivated his audience by commenting with humour this history of picture seen throughout almost 200 slides." Le Progrès- 2003

René Basset shows his vision
"After Willy Ronis in October, The Salvador Allende Centre shows another photography "superstar": René Basset. A Lyon- born, he lies within great names of photography, just as Doisneau, Kertez, and Cartier-Bresson. Seventy years later, Basset did not forget how he started. Eighty-five years-old now, he remembers…Close to nature, he made it one of his favourite subjects. His portraits made out of roots, his faces made out of leaves and his outlines made out of twigs are so many tributes to pure creation. But his work does not stop here. René Basset took many pictures of stage actors. From Brasseur to Roger Planchon, he owns a famous collection of a rare quality. His work was awarded by le Prix de Niepce in 1958- a consecration." Lionel Cacioch- 2002

The Photograph’s Head.
"He photographs everything, and the porosity of his work, which contains the contemporary art interrogation, lies within a calm oscillation following the singularity of the subject photographed, following the reflection on how to give back the fragment of reality: as it is, as I can see it or as it should be. However the definition would be biased if we did not appreciate the feeling it gives of the picture before it is taken, the propensity of the eye to catch the ill-placed, the incident, the minuscule, the propensity of the eye to see where we can not see. The photography then becomes a process of catching up the moment rather than a process of breaking off time and this in Basset’s work, answers to the writing of a precise and essential poetical sketch." Philippe Marchado- 2002

René Basset is in the Capital
"He is the fourth Niepce award, after Jean Dieuzaide, Robert Doisneau and Denis Brihat. He feels attached to his town Lyon, just like others would be attached to Toulouse. Passion made René Basset a photograph when logic would have made him a ledger-clerk in the silk industry. In 1949, he opened, his own studio, ran advertising business and his own art photography production at once. His stylish vision of the world and of the century was crowned by many distinctions and awards. And this vision was celebrated by a retrospective in the city of Lyon Library, in 1996. The place shelters a well-placed History of Blanc and Remilly written by René Basset in 1995…"
H. Le Goff, La Photographie-2000                                                                 Works + :