The Marcel Bovis 6×6 exhibition continues its itinerancy, after being presented in the Maison Robert Doinseau in Gentilly last year. It is currently for the Parc des Essar[t]s to receive him. The monograph, curated by Michael Houlette and Mattheu Rivallin, assembles a selection of prints made from the original Marcel Bovis negative preserved by the architecture and heritage archives. The photographer had indeed donated of all his archives to the state on January 31, 1991.
A first glance at the archives shows the predominance of a certain format in Bovis’s oeuvre, the 6×6, which counts for half of his black-and-white negatives—some 10,000 pictures—Bovis shot in the last thirty years of his career. Further analysis reveals a systematic use of the format’s properties and a sense of the “correct and definitive composition” . It is this essential vision and instinct that is on display here, and seeing the images in their initial framing gives insight into the photographer’s intentions and relationship with his subject.
Some of the photographs have never appeared in their entirety, others not at all, to the chagrin of Bovis, whose work was widely exhibited and published, and who carefully prepared the photographs for posterity.
On August 18th, 1933, Bovis bought his first Rolleiflex 6×6, which he quickly saw was the ideal camera for him. “Armed with the Rolleiflex, I took a lot of pictures. I was free and could go where I pleased.” The Rolleiflex revolutionized photography by relying not on glass plates but 6×6 celluloid film, a format that Bovis helped popularize. The film reduced equipment to the bare necessities—the camera and a few rolls of film—while cutting down on preparation time and allowing the photographer to move and shoot more freely; starting in 1932, each roll of film held 12 exposures.
EXHIBITION
6×6
Marcel Bovis
From January 30th to May 1st, 2016
Parc des Essar[t]s
Avenue Georges Clémenceau
11150 Bram
France
04 68 24 40 66
[email protected]
http://www.essars.bram.fr
Wednesday 11am – 6pm and Thursday to Sunday 1pm – 6pm
