Born in Paris in 1905, Roger Parry began working as a photographer in 1928 with the publishing house La Nouvelle Revue Francaise. While doing advertising works he started assisting the head of Deberny-Peignot studio, Maurice Tabard. The Nouvelle Revue Francaise in 1930 published a book of poems called Banalite by Leon Paul Fargue. This creative work introduced Perry to an artistic scene which included the likes of Man Ray, Lee Miller and Andre Kertesz. Soon his photography grew in a more creative sense and his images were regularly being published in the yearbooks of Art et Metiers graphiques. In 1932 at Julien Levy’s gallery his work was exhibited which helped him gain recognition as a French surrealist photographer.

After travelling to Africa and Polynesia he published a book called Tahiti. Soon afterward he started to diversify his photographic talents and worked as a set photographer, illustrator and portraitist. He contributed to such periodicals as Decective, Voila, Match and Marie-Claire. As a photojournalist he went from photographing prominent people in society to covering wars for Agence France-Press.

Eventually in 1948, he gave up press photography and starting working with Andre Malraux for the publishing house Gallimard. In 1977 he died in Paris.