In La Seyne, 150 photos for a world tour with the great photographer Marc Riboud
A journey through time and around the world. The Villa Tamaris, in La Seyne, is hosting his new exhibition. Until September 21, 150 photographs by Marc Riboud are on display under the title The Eye of the Traveler . From Europe to Asia, via Alaska and Africa, the photojournalist never stopped crisscrossing the planet. With subtlety and modesty, he documented changes and events in the four corners of the globe, always taking care to place women and men at the heart of his carefully crafted compositions. Although he passed away in 2016, his work continues to illuminate our understanding of the world. Lorène Durret, curator of this exhibition, who was at his side for a time, now oversees his collection through the association Les Amis de Riboud.
"Marc Riboud himself said that he was more of a walker than a traveler. He liked to take his time," she explains. The exhibition opens with the reporter's first trip abroad, to Yugoslavia. An inaugural series that sets the tone for his entire approach. To better understand Marc Riboud's work and his influence, we toured the exhibition with Lorène Durret and selected three emblematic works for you to decipher.
1. The iconic "The Painter of the Eiffel Tower"This is a photo you've probably already seen, perhaps without knowing that it was by Marc Riboud: The Painter of the Eiffel Tower . It welcomes visitors in tapestry format at the entrance to the exhibition. An iconic image in more ways than one. "When he decided to leave Lyon to become a photographer, he moved to Paris. He began to capture the city, its streets, its monuments," says Lorène Durret. During his journey, Riboud climbed the Eiffel Tower during renovation. He then came across a worker, hanging from the steel structure, paintbrush in hand, like a dancer. This snapshot, captured on the spot, would be Riboud's first photo sold and published. Spotted by Henri Cartier-Bresson, he joined the Magnum agency. "And immediately, his instinct was to go traveling, to see what was happening elsewhere," insists the curator.
2. The essential "The Girl with the Flower"Another iconic image from Riboud's catalog: The Girl with a Flower . Taken in 1967 in Washington, during the Vietnam War, this photograph can also be seen at the Villa Tamaris. It shows a young woman facing soldiers armed with bayonets during an anti-war demonstration. She then holds a flower in front of her face. "Marc Riboud met her many years later, after she learned of the photo. She was only 17 at the time; her name is Jan Rose Kasmir. It's a photo of peace, an image that people still replay today, which has truly entered the collective imagination. Riboud was delighted by this: that this photograph circulates and that everyone can appropriate it," analyzes Lorène Durret.
As an aside, when he pressed the shutter, the photographer was almost at the end of his film. He took several shots, and it was the last one that was selected and published by newspapers around the world. In the installation, this work echoes another, this time taken in Vietnam, where we see the ravages of war in the background of a scene of daily life, in a composition that is once again inspired.
3. "Antique Windows", China like never beforeMarc Riboud is one of the few photographers to have been able to enter Communist China to practice his profession. He went there for the first time in 1957, then in 1965 and 1971, in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. Work in factories, in the countryside, but also scenes of daily life: he captures it all. Among the most striking shots, the Antique Shop Windows , taken in Beijing, catches the eye with its composition: the photo is taken through a door that divides the street into several scenes.
"He truly relied on his sense of observation. Even in the 1960s, when some French intellectuals were taking very pro-Mao positions, Marc always kept a certain distance," explains the curator. Here again, he places women and men at the center of his lens. A constant in all his work.
at Villa Tamaris, until September 21. Wednesday to Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Free admission.
Amid Riboud's photographs, a room at Villa Tamaris hosts the work of Caroline Abitbol, who collaborated with the photojournalist for a time. Here, she presents the fruits of her travels in India, a country also explored by Riboud. While there is a certain kinship between the two photographers, Caroline Abitbol offers "a complementary perspective. Where Marc was focused on narration and documentation, she is more intimate," emphasizes Lorène Durret, curator of the exhibition. For this series, the photographer therefore left on a whim. "I was in Paris, I met Indian musicians. It transported me. The next day, I decided to go to India. I started in Bengal." She thus presents portraits of musicians, is interested in spirituality, and even manages to approach Mother Teresa, of whom she presents a portrait.
Var-Matin
