Camera lucida

Notre vrai moi n’ est pas tout entier en nous. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

These photographs were all shot at the exhibition “Exteriors: Annie Ernaux and Photography,” at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, February–May 2024, curated by Lou Stoppard. I love both Ernaux’ writing and the kind of street photography represented in the show, and the two worked together remarkably well.

The exhibition paired texts from Annie Ernaux’ Exteriors with photographs from the collection of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie by among others Harry Callahan, Claude Dityvon, Luigi Ghirri, Clarisse Hahn, Hiro, Ihei Kimura, William Klein, Daido Moriyama, Marie-Paule Nègre, Janine Niépce, Tony Ray-Jones, Issei Suda, Kheng-li Wee, and Garry Winogrand.

I like to photograph at exhibitions partly as documents/souvenirs, but also because the camera produces serendipitous distortions due to lighting in the gallery, reflections in the glass, etc.—often including my own shadowy presence—making the resulting image into something that is both more and less than an imperfect copy.

MACK have published a beautiful small format (and reasonably priced) souvenir volume from the exhibition..

I am not sure what moves me to take any particular photograph, or to take photographs at all, but I believe much is contained in the quote in the last image, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau: “Our true self is not wholly inside us.”

All images shot in Paris on May 14, 2024

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