When the camera stops, the cinematographer’s eye continues to tell stories. This is what the second photography exhibition by the Union of Cinematographers (UCO) eloquently demonstrates, held from 9 to 30 June 2024 at Hang’art in Paris.
This exhibition offers a fascinating counterpoint to the usual work of cinematographers. Far from sets and the constraints of cinematic narrative, it reveals their intimate relationship with the still image. Through the photographs of these directors of photography, we discover a different gaze — one free from the demands of a script, of staging, of framing imposed by a story. Here, each image is a personal choice, a stolen moment, a fragment of their inner world.
The exhibition highlights a variety of approaches, from the humanist to the abstract, from the intimate to the documentary. Each series reflects not only the technical mastery of these image professionals but also their singular sensibility, their way of seeing the world when they are no longer behind a cinema camera. It is a journey into the intimacy of the gaze, where each photographer reveals a part of themselves through their personal work.
The exhibiting photographers: Jean Philippe Bouyer, Max Decamps, Thomas Faverjon, Jean-Claude Flaccomio, Nicolas Gontcha, Sarah Guillemin-Haddad, Michele Gurrieri, Christophe Larue, Éric Leroux, David Music, Jean-Luc Perreard, Valérie Teillard, Julien Thézé.
Jean Philippe Bouyer
Jean Philippe Bouyer invites us with touching sincerity to discover his humanist and personal series: “Following the sudden death of my eldest brother in August 2013, I decided to create a series of portraits of people I know. Not to make beautiful images, but to keep a trace of those who are dear to me. These are not posed portraits. I catch my subjects in the flow of life, in a moment of abandon or reverie. I use natural light exclusively, and shoot on film. Each portrait is a fragment of a relationship, a silent dialogue between the photographer and his subject.”
Max Decamps
Max Decamps, a recent graduate of the Louis Lumière school, offers a formal exploration in analogue photography: “Passionate about the subtleties of colour perception and the 3D dimension of our environment, I seek to capture the invisible vibrations that animate the world around us. My approach draws on the optical properties of film to create images where reality is transformed, where light becomes material, where the boundary between the visible and the sensed dissolves. Each image is an experiment, an attempt to translate into two dimensions the richness of our three-dimensional perception.”
Thomas Faverjon
Thomas Faverjon assembles fragmentary and sensitive impressions: “Thomas Faverjon loves moments, people, their faces and their postures. Rather than a complete series, he prefers scattered fragments, images stolen from the flow of life.”
Jean-Claude Flaccomio
Jean-Claude Flaccomio continues from last year’s exhibition his exploration of the past in his native Provence: “Like a gentle reminder of bygone youth, Influenzinum is a poetic reflection on the passing of time and on traces left in the landscapes and places of childhood. Each image is a return to the origins, a search for the light that once illuminated the fields, the stone walls, the family houses. I work with long exposures and deliberate blur, to give these images the texture of a fading memory, something between dream and recollection.”
Nicolas Gontcha
Nicolas Gontcha offers a dynamic series, inspired by the masters De La Tour, Rembrandt and Caravaggio as well as by Hungarian photographer Brassaï: “I conceive my work as a fusion between classical painting and street photography. I seek in the night, in artificial light, the dramatic power that Baroque painters found in their chiaroscuro. Each image is a tableau, a scene captured in the living theatre of the city.”
Sarah Guillemin-Haddad
Sarah Guillemin-Haddad exhibits two prints, Iceberg and Top of the World, which are part of a series of animal portraits encountered at the four corners of the globe.
Michele Gurrieri
Michele Gurrieri offers an intimate series, traversing melancholic moments linked to a romantic loss: “Vertigo of time spent in solitude. I begin to imagine an ideal place, the place of my well-being. Between photographs and writing, I attempt to reconstitute the memory of a feeling, a body, a presence that has vanished. Each image is a search for beauty in absence, a way of making the invisible visible through light and shadow.”
Christophe Larue
Christophe Larue exhibits a pared-down and experimental series: “I often have a small camera on me, which allows me to capture a moment, a place, an atmosphere. After several years of classic captures, and several thousand shots, I felt a frustration linked to the gap between my feeling on location and what remained of it in the photograph. I then immersed myself in an analysis of the images, and it emerged that details were hindering the direct perception of emotion. We experience a feeling in its totality, in what the light or shadow allows us to discover. A photograph contains details which, if they are not significant when I take the photo, become so in the eyes of those who look at it. From then on, I sought to dissolve the details into the atmosphere, leaving only the feeling to express itself, with no other anchor for the viewer than the interplay of shadows, light and colours.”
Éric Leroux
Éric Leroux presents a contemplative series: “For several years, I have been photographing landscapes in long exposure, at dawn or dusk. I seek that moment when the light transforms the world into a painting, when reality becomes abstract, when the horizon dissolves into colour. These images are meditations on time, silence, and the beauty of the ephemeral.”
David Music
David Music presents a documentary series full of humanity: “My photographic work documents the lives of people I encounter during my travels. I am drawn to faces, to gazes, to the silent stories that a portrait can tell. I photograph in the street, in markets, in the intimacy of homes when I am invited in. Each image is a meeting, a moment of trust exchanged between the subject and the photographer.”
Jean-Luc Perreard
Jean-Luc Perreard exhibits an introspective series on the relationship between body and landscape: “My work explores the dialogue between the human body and the natural landscape. I place my subjects — dancers, performers, ordinary people — in natural settings and let the encounter happen. The body becomes a landscape element, the landscape becomes an extension of the body. I work exclusively in black and white, in medium format film, to give these images the density and timelessness that this subject demands.”
Valérie Teillard
Valérie Teillard presents a poetic and intimate series: “My photographic work is an extension of my cinematic gaze. I seek in the still image the same emotion, the same tension between what is shown and what is suggested. I photograph interiors, objects, details that speak of absence and presence, of traces left by those who have passed through.”
Julien Thézé
Julien Thézé exhibits a series that blends documentary and poetry: “For several years, I have been documenting the daily lives of fishermen along the Brittany coast. My approach is that of a witness who takes his time, who returns season after season, who builds a relationship of trust with his subjects. I shoot on film, in medium format, to give these images the weight and depth they deserve. Each portrait, each seascape, each scene of daily labour is a fragment of a story that is slowly disappearing — that of a world of work still governed by the rhythms of the tides, the wind, and the seasons.”
The exhibition In the Intimacy of the Gaze runs from 9 to 30 June 2024 at Hang’art, Paris.
Curated by Michele Gurrieri for the Union of Cinematographers (UCO).
