[1] Lotar was born in Paris, the son of Tudor Arghezi, a Romanian poet,[2] and Constanța Zissu, a teacher.
Lotar published his photographs in reviews such as Jazz, Variétés, Bifur, and Documents.
His reportage on the Parisian La Villette's slaughterhouses (1929, issue 6) was a theme very much in line with Georges Bataille's interests in sacrificial rituals and became one of his best-known works.
[citation needed] Lotar also frequented cinematic and theatrical circles, through which he met filmmakers René Clair and Luis Buñuel, theater director Antonin Artaud and playwright Roger Vitrac.
[citation needed] During his last years, which were particularly somber, he became close friends with Alberto Giacometti and posed for several of his sculptures.