Shanghai Daily news
From left: ¡°Balcon II¡± by Philippe Ramette, Hong Kong,
2001; ¡°Madonna Lying on the Floor of a Red Room¡± by Bettina Rheims, New York,
September 1994; ¡°Michael Jackson¡± by Valerie Belin, 2003; and ¡°Gotscho in the
Mirror, Johnny Lat¡¯s Gym¡± by Gotscho, New York City, 1995. All four pictures are
owned by the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris and will be on
display in Shanghai this week.
A Gallic view of life is conveyed in a major
photographic exhibition that opens in the city on Thursday, writes Wang Jie.
Photographers are loners. But the glamor of being a photographer is said to
be the ability to stand alone and record the fleeting moments of life --
sometimes instances that even the subjects captured on film cannot remember.
A retrospective exhibition featuring nearly 134 photographs taken by 35
French photographers brings back the visual experience of bygone moments over
the past half century.
On loan from La Maison Europeenne de la
Photographie and Group Lhoist, the exhibition is part of the celebrations for
the ``Year of France in China.''
``The exhibition doesn't aim to
showcase a complete record of French photography,'' says Mao Aimin, spokeswoman
for the Shanghai Art Museum. ``The selection of the photos is based on two
factors: Firstly, the photos should be able to be understood by ordinary
visitors and secondly, we have been inclined to choose those photographers who
have already achieved recognition in the French artistic community.''
The show is divided into three categories based on different periods:
the 1950s, 1980s and contemporary. However, even without a label to indicate the
period, visitors will still be able to identify the particular era as each photo
is stamped with a clear aesthetic taste of the time in which it was
taken.
For example, French photographers in the first period are called
``humanist photographers.'' They were expert at capturing some decisive moments,
such as a painter whistling on the Eiffel Tower or a happy bride in her wedding
gown crossing the street. Some of the photographers are native French and others
come from Eastern Europe. Among them are big names such as Edouard Borbat and
Marc Riboud. Their pictures taken in the Luxembourg Gardens or one of the
painters whistling on the Eiffel Tower later became familiar around the world
through thousands of posters and postcards.
This group of photographers
wandered the streets of Paris observing every small detail going on in the
ordinary life of people around them. An open-air cafe, a park or the banks of
the Seine feature as a backdrop in many of their photos and they celebrate the
routine of daily life and Parisiennes enjoying themselves.
Although
their gaze through their lenses was usually tender and mild, the outcome varied
in the prints when they were developed.
The pictures that emerged from
Henri Cartier-Bresson's camera are like realistic canvases while Robert
Doisneau's cast a tranquil spell.
These black-and-white photos with
their vivid observation later became reference points for moviemakers Marcel
Carne and Jean Renoir.
Compared with the generation of the 1950s,
photographers of the 1980s felt free to break with traditional concepts and to
experiment. Instead of reflecting life, some began to shoot pictures viewed at
museums and galleries. ``They saw the world from a new angle,'' says Jean-Luc
Monterosso, French curator of the exhibition. ``They no longer recorded reality
but were more interested in conjuring up illusion and fantasy.''
For
example, the subject in Bettina Rheims' picture is pop diva Madonna. But unlike
Hollywood's glamorous portrayal of the star utilizing color, backdrops or poses,
Rheim's Madonna looks more like a prostitute locked in a room. She is exotic and
fallen. Such a mode of shooting was once described as ``the raping of the
shutter'' to delineate unexplainable primitive lust and desire.
Alain
Fleischer reveals his ability in capturing ``overlapping images'' on daily
objects. Mirrors, kettles and spoons are endowed with a reflective face or the
contours of a body. It is an experiment in the appearance and disappearance of
visual patterns under certain conditions.
``In today's contemporary art
world, photography is neither a visual reflection nor a recording of the
world,'' says Monterosso. ``It is an extension of the world, a back-up
penetrating the mirror.''
Today's generation is not satisfied with
playing with light and shadow -- it is a kind of complicated language that is a
fusion of advanced technology and a detailed system of perception.
Sundry styles, bizzare or absurd, tell visitors that today we are living
in a society that is being bombarded with various information and styles.
Like Phillippe Ramette who becomes part of his own pictures. Wearing a
dark suit, he rises in the air in a balcony-like boat floating on the harbor in
Hong Kong -- an original surrealistic style with a humorous message.
``The focus on the individual has returned,'' says Monterosso.
Yet photography is more than a simple capturing of character. Subjects
in the pictures are augmented by props, graphic designs and symbols to give
voice to the photographer's philosophy towards politics, humanity and social
problems.
It has been said that the main function of photography is to
record tangible things faithfully and in this respect, photography differs
greatly from other art forms.
However, the infinite possibilities of art
makes this saying a cliche and this becomes more obvious after a visit to this
French photographic exhibition.
Date: March 17-April 17, 9am-5pm
Venue: Shanghai Art Museum, 325 Nanjing
Rd W.
Admission: 20 yuan
Tel: 6327-2829
