The black and white work of Emmanuelle Barbaras covers two of her favorite themes.On one hand, there are a dozen images taken from her work on intimacy, a long-led artistic research on male and female nudes. “My work on the body is an approach to intimacy that would like to go beyond dominant stereotypes (skinny women with rounded breasts, virile and muscly men, standardized heterosexuality, etc.),” she says, “and pay tribute to the average person, who is not recognized as particularly beautiful. Whether they be women, men, heterosexual or homosexual couples, it doesn’t matter. My images are stories of encounters and confidence.”
On the other there are about thirty photos coming from several West African news stories. It is a land that she idealistically travelled, a fighter of causes with a big heart, in search of adventures and human interest stories. She is always ready to go with her camera to get to know the extraordinary men and women in their altruistic engagements, fighting against injustices for more humanity and solidarity. She approaches many subjects with respect and tenderness. Whether it be the shared moments of life with the Touaregs in Mali in the desert, women at work (who carry out their “male” jobs), the fight against AIDS in Senegal, female circumcision, or the portraits she took of the children throughout West Africa, she offers here a benevolent and poetic view of Africa, her adoptive continent.
Emmanuelle Barbaras, Regards croisés
