Today was a busy day with two visits! Our first stop was the Centre Pompideau and as a small note, there will be no images of the collection. We were asked to not publish, or show publicly any of the photographs we saw during our visit. So, for the first part of this post, any images will be of the building itself, and very little else.
The CentrePompidou first opened its doors to the public in 1977, with the photographic department opening in 1981. The Pompideau’s main mission to disseminate knowledge about all creative works and their creators from the 20th century is done through multiple exhibitions a year, a well-stocked reference library and an open, 20th century inspired building. The photography department has focused on materials form the 19020s and 30s, with a large portion of work featuring or by surrealists. The collection holds around 35,000 pieces, with many being negatives. Of these, 12,000 are negatives by Man Ray, along with around 200 vintage prints by the artist as well. The Pompideau holds five archives of artists, including Man Ray, Brassaï, and Constantin Brancusi. The Pompideau is gradually working on the latter half of the 20th century, this being aided by a recent donation form the State Bank.
The Centre Pompideau.
Clément Chéroux, the Pompideau’s photographic curator, began our day with some of Man Ray’s works. There is currently a book in the works for Man Ray’s portraiture, something the artist took up to make some money to stay in Paris. He also did photographic reproductions of other artists’ works. His portraiture didn’t require any advertising; his work became popular enough that people came to him. He priced according to his clientele, a mere 30 to 40 francs for the average sitter, and 1000 francs for the wealthier ones. Many of Man Ray’s portraits are quite simple with minimal lighting and ‘artsy’ settings. He wanted to have his works look like paintings hanging in the Louvre, and many of the works Chéroux showed us reflect this sentiment. During the late 50s upon his return to France from America, Man Ray started doing colour portraits of singers and actors. This is where he developed and patented a new process, one that still remains unnamed. He would photograph his subject with a colour transparency film and would subject it to too much light when exposing it. The resulting low density, thin film was displayed on white paper, which would show the image. The result was a 3D-like effect, mostly due to the space between the film and the paper, which allowed for depth and shadows to occur. I have to admit, my knowledge of Man Ray work prior to this trip was somewhat limited to his rayograms and ‘still life’ works (for lack of a better term), so to see the variety of portraiture he did throughout his career was quite educational. Seeing this work was a great way to fill in some holes in my knowledge of Man Ray’s body of work. His works are stunning too; the colour portraits are so vibrant and different.
Clément Chéroux, showing us something that I can't show you.
The next group of work that Chéroux pulled for us was part of the Brancusi archive. Constantin Brancusi left his entire archive to the state upon his death, a collection of 700 photographs and roughly 1,2000 negatives. Brancusi began photographing his own work after never being satisfied with the results of the many other photographers were dispatched to copy his work. The main thing that needs to be known of his work, his that the photographs were his vision of his own sculptures. He was constantly playing with light, reflections and shadows on his work. He would sometimes wait till the right time of day where the sunlight would hit his work from a specific window before photographing it. He also printed his own photographs, further controlling how the image looked. When I saw these pieces, I got the distinct impression that these were an extension of his sculptural works. Many of Brancusi’s sculptures have details within them that catch the light to add depth to the works, and his photographs really highlight that aspect of his work. Also, in many cases the monolith-like aspect of his works is even further highlighted by the stark, almost singling out aspect of his portraiture. They are really quite beautiful. In some cases, they can be against some photographic notions, primarily the decisive moment. To document his work, “Endless Column,” Brancusi used cinematic film, and chose which frame he preferred once the reel was developed. He then printed the image full frame, which further aided in the impression of the column actually being endless. Brancusi’s photographic works provide a great visual extension to the museum’s collection of the very works he photographed, specifically in the view of the artist; we can view the works as he wished them to viewed. The Pompideau was an amazing way to be thrown into the 20th century of photography.
Part two of May the 19th, John Morris.
In a converted storefront space, hidden in Paris alley, lives John Morris, the now 95-year-old former photographic editor of LifeMagazine. Born in 1916, Morris has spent his life editing photographers and working with hundreds of photographers for newspapers and magazines. His work with Life magazine was followed by a postwar career with Ladies Home Journal, Magnum, The Washington Post and TheNew York Times. His move to Paris in the early 80s signaled a move towards free-lance writing and editing, along with frequent talks about his life and career.
John Morris.
There’s nothing quite like meeting someone of this kind of legendary status in the photojournalism world, not to mention a personal friend and colleague of Robert Capa. Morris welcomed us into his home and treated us to a slide show and talk about some of the photographers he has come to know throughout his life. Beginning with Life Magazine, the early days of this publication had a humble photography department, a mere 4 staff photographers were on the payroll. Upon a circulation peak of around ten to eleven million strong, there were 35 staff photographers. Life had very little competition during the early years, and didn’t disappoint, in many cases being able to cover stories and publish the next day. During his Life days, Morris edited many world events, including the attack on Pearl Harbour and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. Morris’ move to Ladies Home Journal and further move to Magnum led into a more political vein. Images from the Korean War, various presidential runs in the Oval Office and Kennedy assassination set the tone for the 50s and 60s.
A cover of Life Magazine.
An image from the Hiroshima bombing that was censored in publication for almost five years.
The afternoon we spent with Morris was almost like an afternoon with a friend. While his talk was educational, it was filled with personal stories and his take on many global issues throughout his career. It was quite something. In some cases, it was his decision that made photographic history, including saving the 11 remaining frames of the 4 rolls of destroyed images from Capa during the D-Day invasion. His work with Magnum produced an assignment where photographers shot 12 scenes of farmers washing in 12 different countries. The idea was that “people are people the world over,” so the similarities and differences of the subject matter was highlighted within these photographs. It was quite the honour to be invited in to the home of such a legend.
John Morris.
After the day’s visits, some of us decided to celebrate by doing something we thought to be very Parisian: a picnic dinner at the Eiffel Tower. After a quick trip to the grocery store for some cheese, bread and wine, we navigated the Paris metro and staked out our place on the lawns next to the tower. We arrived well in time for the evening light show to unfold before our eyes. It was a great way to end the day.
The Eiffel Tower.
Twinkle, twinkle etc.
All photographs and videos by A Cook.
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