Until March 1, Jean-François Camp, the former director of the Dupon laboratory, presents at the Durev gallery his collection by William Klein entitled « Klein d’œil » – Le Paris de William Klein. He accompanies it with these few words:
As a teenager I discovered William Klein through « Who are you Polly Maggoo ?», an iconoclastic film about the world of fashion, the main actress Dorothy McGowan was for me the embodiment of the feminine ideal.
We met twenty years later at the DUPON laboratory in Bastille thanks to Babette ( last name???) who made his Cibachrome color prints. We never left each other and created his biggest exhibitions together, whether at the MEP, the Centre Pompidou or the Tate Gallery in London. A second-degree dialogue was established which for me consisted of outdoing his often acid sense of humor. This dialectic, sometimes surreal, created a bond between us that was both professional and personal. I loved him for his immense talent, his stature and his biting playfulness.
I will never forget our stroll in Perpignan, during his retrospective at Visa, in the heart of the gypsy quarter where he photographed old gypsy women with mischief. Then in Clichy, after the riots during the exhibition « Clichy 100 clichés », and in Arles where, in the ancient theater, despite his difficulty in standing, he stood up and his repartee made the entire audience laugh with a 90 years old talented man…
This Klein d’oeil and the presentation of some little-known images which reflect his timeless photographic genius!
Jean-François Camp
Galerie Durev
56 Bd de la Tour-Maubourg
75007 Paris
www.durev.com
