Our collaborator Thierry Maindrault with the Optim’Art collective is the curator of the exhibition dedicated to Etienne Renzo. He writes :
It is in the gallery of the Atrium hotel [Arles] that a careful selection of images is exhibited throughout the duration of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie. The choices were made around the photographic purpose and its ability to bring an era to life, beyond simple informative testimony.
The composition specific to each image is adapted to the importance and scale of the information while remaining within the canons of traditional reading. The densities and light balances restore the atmospheres that reign perfectly in each scenario. The contrasts are not innocent with a millimetric dosage of the balance between invasive pollution and narrative openness.
For all those who were able to walk in the Chinese provinces of this time, these black and white photographs take us back to real life. For others, these testimonies can settle into their imagination and their neophyte emotions without betraying historical truths.
Etienne’s equipment at the time was not “top level”. The images exhibited confirm, once again, that in photography technic and know-how, and not equipment is the key to success.
Thierry Maindrault
Galerie de l’Hôtel Atrium
01 rue Emile Fassin
13200 Arles
open every day from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.,
until November 4, 2024.
