My first meeting with Jean-Claude Gautrand dates back to yesteryear 1967. I had the honor of being invited to exhibit, by the Grand Cercle, some of my first creative photographs, avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Paris -Champs Elysées. Very active in the “30 × 40” (a large photo club named after the size of the exhibition prints required at the time), Jean-Claude was present at the opening of the large competing club of this period. What struck me, despite our age difference, was our sharing, in this first unexpected exchange, of a somewhat strict vision of photography which was far from being as hyped as it is currently. For both of us – the main thing was the image, everything had to be in the image, without half-measures, but without embellishments. It was the price to pay to allow the reader to enter, to settle down, to wander in the space generated by a photograph. Our first community of views around this conviction undoubtedly remains inscribed in my DNA both for my analyzes and during my curating. Jean-Claude kept his convictions under the same circumstances.
The purity of the production became essential to respect light, our accomplice, and for that of readers, our guests. Everything else was just multiple and varied accessories, often too cumbersome for the message or the emotion.
I had to move away from photography quite quickly without having had time to fall into the camp of the ancients (Le Grand Cercle) or that of the moderns (Les 30 × 40). Afterwards, in the 1970s, we failed to meet (I was elsewhere).
A few decades later, when I returned to creation, Jean-Claude had made his way, and what a way, or rather he had plowed his photographic field in all directions. There is not a small space (images or organizations) devoted to photography in which he did not make his appearance. Everywhere at the same time to support, promote, help everything that revolved around the works, always the essential: the works. This man was omnipresent without ever appearing, on the front of the stage. His effectiveness in the shadows proved, to all, much more efficient for photography than certain personal satisfactions in the spotlight.
Yet, what an extraordinary photographer, honestly, one of the very best of his generation, with work recognized by his peers and admired by subsequent generations. If we were talking about glorious photographers, a dozen of the big names from that era livened up the debates. If we were talking about images, the references were signed Jean-Claude. Everyone knows that I very rarely mention the woman or the man who created the images I try to share. But for this exhibition at the height of his talent, it was impossible for me to ignore it. I imagine the intense pleasure he would share with us to see all the beautiful series of his works to be seen by everyone.
The exhibition features more than 350 images that have been taken from his numerous collections. Jean-Claude’s series are real spatial constructions, it is not a question of bringing together one or two dozen images – without head or tail – and putting a hat on them with a label. We are in a complex and coherent assemblage, crossed by “a common thread”, which amplify and document the space of each of his photographs in this collection. The intellectual construction must be subtle enough not to put off onlookers; but, relevant enough to take it to the end of the proposed journey. There are several dozen series that take us to pleasant or terrifying, playful or historical places, which challenge us when they don’t make us dream.
Jean-Claude touched on all subjects, in the specialties of photography, without ever sacrificing the quality of the image, this form of perfectionism essential for the purity of the message, for the birth of a feeling. His accomplished photographic image includes a multitude of parameters mastered to perfection, even in incongruous situations or in moments of haste. In addition, this instinctive mastery was crowned by the instantaneous gesture of pressing the shutter. After all that, there’s still 90% sweat (work, plus risks), so the photography is as good as in the song.
Each image is too complete a space of global coherence for exhaustive enumerations. All the details are present, even in the whites and the blacks, whether the shots are backlit, descriptive or atmospheric. All the compositions lead the eye to the climax while forcing it to glean essential information along the way. The sharpness is adjusted to give significant emphasis to all the blurs, which are just as chatty. In each of the photographs, everything is regulated like music paper, the construction is solid, even unshakeable, to support a multitude of interdependent technical and scenographic details. The magic of a work by Jean-Claude is found in this harmony where everything is present, as it should and where it is needed, without ever imposing anything too much, superadded and parasitic. Always going back to the basics while respecting the image.
Each image is a chapter, each collection is a novel. These novels, composed with the works of Jean-Claude, await you at the Réattu Museum which has become the repository of a large part of his work. All these masterpieces are visible throughout the duration of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie in Arles. In my opinion, this presentation of the creative and professional work of Jean-Claude Gautrand is the Arlesian event of 2024, to be contemplated as a priority.
Despite its extremely modest budgets, in view of the significant financial flows which have become the priority of this flagship event, the Réattu Museum has made significant efforts. For 2024, there are two exhibitions, exemplary of quality and accuracy in their content, around the photographic image.
It is truly impossible for you to pass through Arles without discovering the two photographic pearls installed for the whole summer, within the Réattu grounds.
Thierry Maindrault
EXHIBITION
Musée Réattu • Musée des beaux-arts
Ancien Grand Prieuré de l’Ordre de Malte
10 rue du Grand Prieuré
13200 ARLES
from June 28, 2024 until October 06, 2024
from 10:00 am to 06:00 pm
closed every Monday
CATALOG
Libre Expressions • Jean-Claude Gautrand
publishing : musée Réattu / éditions Illustria
photographe : Jean-Claude Gautran
première édition
size 22 cm x 28 cm
312 pages
450 pictures
ISBN 978 8 836656 46 2
price 35 euros
