French photographer Willy Ronis, known for his humanistic photographs of postwar France, died of natural causes at age 99 this September in Paris.

Influenced by black-and-white photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams, Ronis portrayed scenes of the common worker, factory strikes and everyday Parisian street life.

A native Parisian, Ronis was born in 1910 to a father who ran a photography studio and a mother who taught piano. Young Willy developed an interest...