For twenty years, Eric Canto has photographed Metallica, U2, Rammstein, Muse, Iggy Pop, and Paul McCartney. Maniac is the first exhibition to present his artistic work as a whole. Three series built separately over ten years, brought together for the first time at Galerie Shadows in Arles, as part of the Rencontres de la Photographie’s Off program.
When he placed them side by side, he saw that they were telling the same story. The same gesture, recurring three times without his having decided it: the subject withdrawing. Veiled figures standing in the mist. Closed faces, sewn-shut mouths, white eyes. Bodies covered in a black substance that rises and isolates.
Before photography, Eric Canto studied psychology. That is where the title comes from. In Greek, mania does not mean madness, but the state of someone who is possessed, inhabited by a force greater than themselves. “Maniac” is always a word spoken by others, a verdict applied to whatever overflows its bounds. Naming the exhibition this way means reclaiming the word and turning it around.
Eric Canto has been recognized two years running in Los Angeles: second prize for Photo of the Year at the International Photography Awards in 2024, first prize in 2025. That same year, the Tokyo International Foto Awards awarded him the gold medal in the Music category.
Eric Canto: Maniac
Through September 20, 2026
closing reception Saturday, September 19
Galerie Shadows
16 bis Rue du Grand Prieuré
13200 Arles
https://galerieshadows.com/
