by All the photo lovers/experts/etc I talked to are unanimous….Paris Photo 2019 was a grand cru. Difficult to explain that impression though. First I really really enjoyed walking by the aisles and look at the pictures. Most of them. Contrary to the last 3/4 years, I don’t remember stopping by and being angry/mad/annoyed because of a pic without any interest, insipid, only existing because of a nebulous concept, supported by a megalomaniac artist statement (if you want to create yours, this AI will do it perfectly). Paris Photo 2019 was about photography, about art, about light, about telling stories. The show was full of inspiring, shocking or contemplative images.
A friend of mine said that he loved Paris Photo 2019 because he saw a LOT of black & white pictures (didn’t think about it but sure the proportion of B&W has gone up), but maybe we’ve found the right balance between B&W and color? Others have said that because of the price of the booths, Galleries have to focus on well-known & expensive photographers, instead of promoting young photography (on this topic, you can read this interesting interview of Galerie Le Réverbère here ); I don’t think Paris Photo should be THE place where galleries should focus on promoting new photographers, new ideas….there are a lot of other fairs dedicated to young/emerging/etc photography. Paris Photo is the best photo fair in the world, it should show what galleries consider as the best pictures or photographers. It doesn’t prevent them from showing new emerging artists – but then their work must be as good as all the other artists presented at the fair (a good example is Miho Kajioka – Gallery Ibasho at Antwerp).
I’m sharing below some of the pictures/photographers/galleries which drew my attention this year; feel free to comment and like/dislike! And maybe see you in April 2020 for New York Photo (or whatever the name :-)?
Let’s start with my favorite picture this year: Louis Stettner, Downtown near Canal Street (1985); presented by Fifty One gallery. I love the composition, how blacks are partnering with whites, how you have to have a second look to fully understand it.
Another picture (or object in that case) that I really loved is the work of Christiane Feser presented by Anita Beckers, Frankfurt. I’m not usually a huge fan of artists using pictures to make objects and develop concepts. It’s very often just a blablabla. In the case of Christiane Feser, it’s just a masterpiece. It’s a picture, still life, that is turned into a fascinating 3D photo object; “just” with a dozen of snips of the scissors.
The next one is from one of my favorite photographer, Harry Callahan. Small is beautiful. Simplicity is the key to emotions. When there’s nothing to remove, you’ve got something!
Ok, time for doing something really bad…….sharing a picture that I don’t like. For me it demonstrates the vacuity of a portion of contemporary photography. Actually, it’s two pictures together but based on the title there is at least 9! Two people, a table and a couple of oranges. I’m sure in the remaining pictures, we will see their bodies and faces in different positions. And I’m very sure there is a long artist statement somewhere explaining that this project wants to show how to save the world or prove that politicians are corrupted. Please, no ideas, no talent, no light…..no pictures!
Back to photography…… with pictures from Arno Minkkinen. Arno is an amazing photographer who has been able to take up one idea and make that one idea his entire life. With Arno, a simple photograph is a motionless picture that can produce miraculous effects and transcend the body’s untapped ability to generate new forms. Instead of showing here one of Arno’s iconic picture, I decided to show a photo that I took during his book signing at Camera Obscura (one of my favorite gallery in the world). Arno gave a touching speech about the intimate relationship between humans and nature, explaining that he wanted to show how we are linked and dependent on each other.
Xu Yong is a Chinese photographer who took pictures of the protest in Tiananmen square 30 years ago. Because of the government censorship he kept the negatives hidden for 25 years. And finally decided to publish only inverted color negatives which may only be decoded with smartphone via the function of ‘inverting colors. Just like if those images were still a well kept secret and if you would need a password to access it.
You want to see the positive? You need an IOs device and have to go to Settings / General / Accessibility and then look for the option that ‘changes the display’ (different names with different IOs). Then activate the ‘invert colors’ option (classical). Enjoy!
I really liked all the photographers by Kahmann gallery, Amsterdam. And for sure I had a crush for Bastiaan Woudt images. See one example below: classic and modern; portrait and fashion; blacks and whites; contemplation and pleasure.
Can’t really tell why I loved Bruno V. Roels’ pictures (Fifty One Gallery). Images are very simple and magically transformed with a simple red dot.
Joel Peter Witkin …. What an exhibition presented Baudoin Lebon (Paris). We all know his work, but still the same shock. It’s visually strong and emotionally disturbing. But this is photography. This is art. This is disgusting. This is captivating.
An emerging trend this year: prints on metal. Sure it’s not new, but I feel that we’ve seen way more in 2019. I have to admit that it brings something to the images. Another way of capturing light and display colors. When use on purpose, it’s like a new way of “feeling” the images. Below is an image of Elger Esser (Bruce Silverstein gallery): direct print on silver-coated copper plate.
I did not know Gyorgy Kepes so thanks you Robert Koch gallery! If you were like me, I encourage you to look for his images on Internet. What a talent and creativity. It’s easy to seize on a photographic technique, takes time (and a couple of YouTube tutos nowadays). But it’s sooo difficult to create something that is emotionally strong. To create art from it. This is what Gyorgy did.
Moriyama at Akio Nagasawa gallery. I love Moriyama and so enjoyed the exhibition. Picked the image below as I feel it’s a little bit different from what is usually shown and I liked the 6 pictures together. Put them in color and they might be coming from some famous US photographers. But it’s Daido. His unique way of being just slightly too close; and thus telling stories that nobody have been able to tell before.
Et voila……. this is it for Paris Photo 2019. Feel free to comment and add your own ‘coup de coeur’.
