Photographer Ronis dies aged 99

Ronis gave up a musical career to start photography

Photographer Willy Ronis, best known for capturing the essence of Paris in black and white scenes of everyday life, has died aged 99.

He passed away at a hospital in the French capital, where he had been admitted days earlier.

President of the Eyedea photo agency. Stephane Ledoux said: "We have lost the last of the great men."

Ronis' award-winning career began in the 1930s and he took his last picture in 2001.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised Ronis as the "chronicler of postwar social aspirations and the poet of a simple and joyous life."

Ronis, along with friend Robert Doisneau and photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson, were among France's great photographers who emerged after World War II.