Pierre Jahan was born in Amboise in 1909. He belonged to a generation of professional photographers who considered their work to be an art of pleasure and availability. Who no longer considered photography as a scientific or technical practice, but as an art in its own right. 

A passionate experimenter with a strong interest in Surrealism, Jahan produced many collages and photomontages, which he used freely for the many advertising commissions that came his way after the end of World War II. 

After taking part in various amateur exhibitions, Pierre Jahan arrives in Paris during Winter 1932-33. Two meetings will be decisive to convince definitely him to become a professional photographer, with Raymond Gid and Emmanuel Sougez. In 1933, Pierre Jahan will take photos of workers  repainting the Eiffel Tower. Later in 1936, Jahan will join Sougez to in the adventure of the Rectangle which was a “group of notorious practitioners, organised to ensure the protection and the diffusion of photography as well as first class productions“.