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It started with a tombola... - The Open College of the Arts

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It started with a tombola… thumb

It started with a tombola…

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It all started when Leonie won a flight from Dakar to Paris in a tombola… From that seed and lots of discussion on flickr developed the idea to meet Leonie and arrange a student organised study visit in Paris. Paris has a huge range of photography galleries so there was plenty to see, and a few months later 11 students, tutor Clive White and various partners and friends spent a few happy and inspirational days in sunny Paris.
We were a mixed group in every way. Students travelled from Berlin, Russia, Senegal and Switzerland as well as the UK. Some students were on their first study visit while others have been to quite a few over the years, and the group included textiles student Sarah Dodds. The range of perspectives and experience led to interesting and lively discussions.
Between us we saw more than 20 exhibitions in total across four days, starting with the Cartier-Bresson blockbuster at the Pompidou. I won’t try to cover all but just mention a few highlights.
Our first evening in Paris began with a stroll through Montmartre to look at the site of some of Atget’s pictures, led by Amano Samarpan. Amano’s impressive detective work had tracked down a range of sites so we could literally stand in Atget’s footsteps, allowing us to see how Paris had changed and to appreciate the decisions Atget made. He often sidestepped the obvious view for one that gave a different perspective. For example, Amano had found a range of postcards of the Place du Tertre showing the Sacre Coeur in the background: Atget had moved around the square to frame quite a different picture, more characteristic of everyday Paris in his day.
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Friday began with another highlight: an exhibition at Le Bal called ‘Ponte City’. Photographers Michael Subotsky and Patrick Waterhouse explored a 54 storey tower building in Johannesburg: built during apartheid, Ponte City was designed as a place so self-sufficient people wouldn’t need to leave, with its own shops and services, pools and cafes. Since apartheid the building has had a checkered life, home to a moving community very different from the wealthy elite it was designed for. Over some years Waterhouse and Subotsky photographed the residents, windows, doors, views and almost every aspect of the building. The installation at Le Bal included publicity material for the building as well as papers and photographs belonging to departed tenants. I think we all came away from this exhibition inspired by it. It is interesting to compare this picture of the Le Bal installation with previous installations of this work – viewable on this link.
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The day progressed with a view of exquisite (and occasionally risqué) Mapplethorpe prints at the Grand Palais. I saw an immersive exhibition of Bill Viola video installations while others went to Guido Guidi at the Fondation Cartier Bresson.
On Saturday we visited the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, seeing a range of exhibitions including Martin Parr’s Paris (with a ‘make your own cliché’ photobooth). Student Emma Drye was inspired by this visit to emulate Parr’s vision of Paris.
Also at MEP, Fouad Elkoury’s dreamlike installation consisted of three screens each running slideshows of his work. The screens billowed in a light breeze and music and ambient sounds accompanied the slideshow. The whole effect was powerful and very resonant: pictures came and went, entering your consciousness and moving on, the whole becoming more than the sum of its parts. In the basement Jean-Michel Fauquet’s extraordinary dark prints and objects seemed perfectly at home in the gloom. Those who couldn’t make it there in person may wish to check out a virtual MEP exhibition here.
Accompanied by Clive and his friend and fellow photographer Francis Azemard, we then walked through the Marais quarter visiting a number of small exhibitions before seeing Noemie Goudal and Ellen Kooi at Galerie des Filles de Calvaire.
Sunday culminated in a luminous exhibition of Robert Adams’ documentary exploration of the beauty and tragedy of the American West at the Jeu de Paume. Adams’ contemplative and restrained approach contrasted with Mathieu Pernot’s contemporary documentary pieces.
Overall I think it’s fair to say that the visit was a great success. We saw a wide selection of work including a range of documentary approaches as well as aesthetic and conceptual explorations. Seeing the work installed is a very different experience from viewing online, and spending time discussing it made for a significant bonding experience. Meeting fellow students and seeing work together is always inspirational, making us all feel part of a joint adventure. Not everyone can make it to Paris, but I would encourage people to consider arranging visits in their own area. It is a really worthwhile experience.
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Image credits: 1. Richard Brown, 2. & 3. Eileen Rafferty, 4. Stan Dickinson


Posted by author: Eileen

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