Gaston Paris : A Free Photo Exhibition At The Centre Pompidou
Do you know the work of Gaston Paris? This unjustly ignored French photographer is to be rediscovered in a free exhibition at the Centre Pompidou. This exhibition entitled 'Gaston Paris, la photographie en spectacle' will plunge you into the world of entertainment in the 1930s.
A photographer to rediscover
Gaston Paris (1903-1964) was a reporter and photographer whose pictures tell the story of the 1930s.
Although his name is not well known to the general public today, his images were widely distributed in magazines during this period.
It is to repair this injustice that the Centre Pompidou in Paris has decided to dedicate to him until April 18, 2022 a free exhibition entitled La photographie en spectacle.
The exhibition also invites visitors to reflect on the different media of photography.
It brings together about fifty vintage prints, twenty-five thematic plates illustrated with contact prints, some 50 magazine reproductions, and more than 100 late prints from the 1960s and 1970s. You will even be able to discover the projection of about a hundred digitized negatives.
Vu magazine's Mr. Show
Gaston Paris was one of the most prominent photographers of the 1930s.
He was the 'Mr. Show' of the famous magazine Vu, the first news magazine illustrated by photography.
His specialty was to capture the backstage of the shows with his Rolleiflex camera, in the Paris of nightlife, the world of the circus and the cabarets.
At the time, he was the only salaried photographer for this magazine and his images were published alongside those of Man Ray or Robert Capa ...
This talented photographer of the inter-war period contributed to the birth of photojournalism.
A lighting virtuoso
Gaston Paris was influenced by surrealism and the 'social fantasy' of his time.
In addition to the world of entertainment honored in the exhibition at the Pompidou Center, he photographed the most varied subjects, from the Universal Exhibition of 1937 to the liberation of Paris without forgetting many monuments of the capital.
His daring framing and low-angle views show a great technical mastery. His black and white photos are superbly contrasted, as can be seen in the photo of a worker against the light of the rose window of Notre Dame de Paris (one of his best known shots).
But above all, this film enthusiast was a virtuoso of lighting, a very appreciable quality in a photojournalist, at that time when magazines were obviously in black and white.
In the aftermath of World War II, his work was challenged by the arrival of other magazines such as Paris Match published for the first time in 1949.
Gaston Paris gives up the profession in 1956 and sinks into alcohol. He died a few years later leaving us an impressive number of striking photographs.
Practical information
The exhibition Gaston Paris, la photographie en spectacle is held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris until April 18, 2022.
Address
Gallery of Photographs
Center Georges Pompidou
Place Georges Pompidou
75004 PARIS
Schedules
Open every day except Tuesday: from 11am to 9pm
Fees
Free
