Category: Photography

From model to muse to war photographer Lee Miller’s extraordinary life is revisited with a major retrospective at Paris’ Jeu de Paume (to January 4, 2009). This retrospective presents the many facets of the career of this remarkable 20th-century artist who was by turns a fashion and artists model, then muse of the Surrealists (companion and assistant of Man Ray) and finally photographer. The exhibition Includes vintage prints, original copies of Vogue, drawings and collages, plus a short excerpt from the Jean Cocteau film “Le Sang du Poèt” (1931) in which Lee Miller plays an important part. Continue reading ““The Art of Lee Miller” in Paris”

A major retrospective of photographs taken by Richard Avedon from 1946 until his death in 2004 is exhibited this summer in Paris at the Jeu de Paume. It traces the photographer’s carrer  begininng with his early fashion work with Harper’s Bazaar in 1945 which revolutionized fashion photography by bringing models out of the studios and into the streets giving the impression that the pictures were intimate moments captured spontaneously. Continue reading “Richard Avedon Paris Retrospective”

Photographer Edouard Boubat (1923-1999) is a poet with a camera. His work is part of the great tradition of French photography that includes such masters as Brassai, Bresson and Doisneau. From his pictures of people in post-war France to photos he took late in his life in the nineties there is a continuity in his gentle attitude that bridges both time and place.

Continue reading “Edouard Boubat’s Camera Poetry”

A major retrospective of Edward Steichen’s photography at Paris’ Jeu de Paume is a chance to see one of the most prolific and influential photographers of the 20th century. Surprisingly this is the first time such a large collection of his work has been shown in Europe. Continue reading “Steichen, “Lives in Photography””

Fazal Sheikh’s photographs have been described as being “like a lesson in contemporary history…both political and poetic.” His two photo essays “Moksha” and “Ladli” at the Fondation Cartier-Bresson are dramatic testimonials revealing the conditions experienced by some women in India. Continue reading “Activist Photographer Fazal Sheikh”

“Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo ?”asks the title of William Klein’s most famous film. If you turn the question around on Klein and ask who he is, the answer is likely to be a long one. For not only is he among the most renowned fashion photographers of the century, but he’s also  (as well as art directing his own books), the director of a score of documentaries and feature films, and over 250 television ads.Klein is featured here  this winter with a major retrospective at the Pompidou Center. It provides a detailed look at more than 50 years of work, juxtaposing some of his earliest and most recent photographs, as well as various book dummies, extracts from films, paintings, drawings and posters – selected largely from the artist’s personal archives.

Continue reading “William Klein Paris Retrospectve”

Paris’ Maison Européenne de la Photographie salutes British photographer Martin Parr with a retrospective of his work. While in the ’80s most serious documentary photographers were using black and white film Parr pushed the limits of the medium with exaggerated color pictures often portraying banal subjects. His pioneering series – “Last Resort” (1986), “The Cost of Living” (1989) and “Small World” (1994) – now rank as a major turning point for contemporary photography. Parr gained his reputation through his ironic look at British middle and working class consumer society. The MEP’s exhibition includes not only his legendary depictions of Great Britain’s Thatcher era, but also some of the photographer’s early work in black in white created during the 1970s – as well as newer pictures such as “Common Sense” and “Cherry Blossom.” Continue reading “Martin Parr’s True Colors”

Rather than security, the wall will only guarantee endless war. Robert Frost wrote that ‘good fences make good neighbors.' What do bad fences make?"

“I began photographing Israel’s ‘Security Fence’ in 2003, a decade after I made my first trip to the Middle East, following the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords. I have been documenting the Arab-Israeli conflict ever since that first visit.Canadian photo journalist Larry Towell is exhibiting his pictures of the Israeli-occupied territories in Palestine, at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. His images provide a sensitive and humane view of the people of the Jenin refugee camp home to some 14 000 Palestinians. Recently, the Magnum photographer had this to say about his experience taking those pictures. Continue reading “Picturing “No Man’s Land””