To use an analog camera is always a gamble. You think you know you got what you wanted, but in the end, it is often something else, sometimes for the better or… the worse. To shoot for double exposures with a film camera increases several notches the level of uncertainty, as there is no way to know in advance how the two images may dialog on the same frame. At the start, there is the idea to play with the instant memory to mix two impressions, two graphic designs in black and white, belonging to the same place. As if you were trying to bring about a snapshot of a fictious photo created from scratch by your imagination. To me, this delirium contains in itself a creative magic whose possibilities are both infinite and fascinating, especially in an urban landscape as rich as Paris. When the still wet film comes out of the tank, adrenalin is at its peak because it is only now that you will check if imagination met reality. Nothing else can give you this feeling: having achieved something where everything could have eluded you. The sensuality of film on top of of that.
Paul Khayat
After a degree in mathematics in 1974, Paul Khayat started a round the world trip that lasted three years. Back in Paris, he worked as a printer for the news agencies Sipa then Sygma, and left them to try his luck as a photographer. In 1984, after six years of photo reportages (as a freelance, or with Imapress and Angeli agencies), he started writing and worked as a journalist for several publications linked to photography (Photo-Reporter, Photo Magazine, Photographies Magazine and then Photo for nine years). From 1999 until 2016, he became the hi-tech columnist for the weekly Paris-Match. In parallel, he continued to photograph and exhibits his images in Normandy and Paris, and also Facebook and Instagram. Six years ago, he decided to work exclusively in film with a Rolleiflex, developping himself the resulting images. Fond of black and white and double exposure, Paul Khayat views Paris through the square viewfinder of his twin lens camera.
His timeless images of the City of Lights capture its most intimate identity. Whether stone or iron, the urban landscape commune with the Sun, the night, and history.
Paul Khayat – Paris Double (silver prints)
from may 30 to june 7, 2023
Galerie Taylor
7 rue Taylor 75010 Paris
http://paulkhayat.com
https://atelier-galerie-taylor.fr/
