Spotlight: French Connections: Photography
Eugène Atget (French, 1856 - 1927) Printed by BERENICE ABBOTT (American, 1898 - 1992) Café, Avenue de la Grand-Armeé, 1924-1925, printed after 1929
This exhibition explored France’s people, environs, and culture through a range of photographs from the Museum Collection. The works in the gallery dated from the turn of the 20th century to present day and covered an array of subjects from black-and-white photographs of Paris streets to striking contemporary portraits.
At its foundation, French Connections was a juxtaposition of the old and new, as images of France’s past are confronted with images of its future. Each viewer brings their own ideas of what it means for images to ‘look’ French, and certain photographs in this exhibition fit comfortably into those notions. Others, by contrast, expand the focus and establish French connections beyond a familiar sense of place.
The work of Eugène Atget (French, 1857-1927) and Erika Stone (American, born Germany 1924) are part of the visual identity that has traditionally framed the ideal image of France, particularly Paris, the City of Light. Their photographs of the quintessential outdoor café, narrow avenues, or a bereted Frenchmen feel nostalgic today, but were exotic in their time.
A more contemporary and radical approach is at play in the reinterpretation of iconic French imagery. Yasumasa Morimura (Japanese, born 1951) creates a personal interpretation of Édouard Manet’s famed realist painting, Olympia, while the photographs by Paris-based contemporary artists Valérie Belin (born 1964) and the collaborative, Les Soeurs Chevalme (born 1981), represent artists working in France today. Their images not only illustrate a new generation of French photographers, but represent a new age of diversity in the Republic of liberté, equalité, and fraternité.