President Dwight Eisenhower had begun another way of practicing politics. The end of his presidency signalled the start of the era of political marketing. Communication changed and Henri Dauman’s work reflected those changes. He followed the electoral campaigns and captured their “fabricated” moments. Richard Nixon, John Lindsay, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller — they all applied the new precepts on various levels. They were the first actors and models in the “making” of the modern politician. Mass media outlets acted as the arteries for the functioning of this new world described by Marshall McLuhan, founding father of contemporary communication studies. Henri Dauman used the semiotics of the image: signs and icons, his images can be read today as a forewarning of the crisis in the written press as a result of the rise of television.
Henri Dauman, The Manhattan Darkroom
February 11 to May 21, 2017
Musée Nicéphore Niépce
28 Quai des Messagerie
71100 Chalon-sur-Saône
France
