75020
Three months residency (dec22 to feb23)
in Paris. Overview of the serie.
Last winter, documentary photographer Vincent Desailly walked the streets of the 20th arrondissement of Paris to meet its inhabitants, and those who pass through it. He produced a series of 30 portraits, captured with his large format film camera.
With this type of device, the portrait cannot be taken on the fly. When a detail or an approach catches his attention, the photographer initiates a conversation. Vincent Desailly claims this form of inertia as an obligation to take the time. Film also forces you to work without a net. It is impossible to see the result instantly, and the author can only produce two or three images per encounter, in a context that he has little control over.
From these ephemeral public sessions, however, a form of intimacy emerges, these “models for a moment” seem immersed in their thoughts and share their emotions with us. The weather is cold and dry, but an inner light sets each face on fire.
Each of the photographs exhibited was printed at scale 1 (the representation at real size) to reproduce as faithfully as possible Desailly’s vision at the time of the shooting. This format encourages us to imagine the outline of the images and underlines the photographer's choices to only frame part of the bodies and their environment.
Original text from the Pavillon Carré de Baudoin.
Views from the exhibition at the Pavillon Carré Baudoin in Paris from March 26th till the 4th of May 2023.
Hand C-print by Quintas Diamantino.
