Until November 12, the Sarto gallery presents an exhibition by Véronique Fel entitled Habana Old Cars which she tells us about in this way:
Havana, Cuba, May 2017. I could not return without having in my images, these old American cars, essential and universal. They are the joyful emblem of a tormented country, under American embargo for more than 50 years, embargo partially lifted in 2016. I knew that the exercise would be difficult because many times treated. An “Old standby” story as they say. I realize as soon as I arrived that they have become purely tourist accessories, overly made up with “marketed” colors and token of easy dollars. Two days of wandering the streets and nothing came of it. Almost no pictures. These American girls were losing their romanticism in my eyes and that saddened me. How to distinguish them out of respect for their history? On the third day, just a few meters from my rented room, at the end of a street, my gaze finally landed, attracted by these green lines on the Malecón. Step by step I approached this vision. Step by step I felt the confidence returning. I had just found the decor, the case where I will photograph my “rolling models” as they pass. In an hour it would be noon. I sat waiting for the shadows to disappear. The Havana sun was dry and harsh at midday. Posted on the sidewalk several meters from their route, balanced on a modest stone to see and have that blue line of the sea, essential to the setting of their portrait, I photographed them as no one had done. The “Habana’s Old Cars” series was born.
Veronique Fel
Véronique Fel : Habana Old Cars
from October 22 to November 12, 2022
Galerie Sarto
3 rue de Solférino
75007 Paris
www.sartoart.com
