Before the installation presented as part of the major exhibition Autophoto, which will take place at the Fondation Cartier from April 19 through September 24, 2017, Americandream is being published by Textuel. This book gathers a part of Sylvie Meunier and Patrick Tournebœuf’s collection of American snapshots dating from the 1950s and 1960s.
She, a graphic and visual artist, and he, a photographer and cofounder of the Tendance Floue collective, have, since 2010, collected vernacular photos of all sorts, individually but also together. Thus was born the Americandream series, which exclusively gathers square family photos taken in the United States that all feature a car.
As Clément Chéroux says, the vernacular photos “hold the mystery of their poetic force”. It is true that, despite the banality and the imperfections, we are touched by these hundreds of people who over fifty years ago posed proudly next to their car at a time when that constituted (along with the house, which is often present in these shots) the absolute symbol of success. We feel unsettled because, the people in the photo, could be us, our parents, or our grandparents. A status symbol, but also the embodiment of freedom, the car made its way into every family album.
The ritual of picture-taking leaves little space for improvisation or fantasy, but that is exactly what is interesting in this publication that gathers one hundred and twelve images in a very plain layout and where black and white prevails. The sporadic addition of a page of flat color creates rhythm and avoids monotony. Halfway through, close-ups of the characters help showcase the often radiant faces of those who posed. It is quite an achievement. Page after page, image after image, a portrait takes shape of an America long-gone, one that made us dream because it was synonymous with progress.
Sophie Bernard
Sylvie Meunier et Patrick Tournebœuf, Americandream
Published by Textuel
32 euros
www.instantanesordinaires.net/les_series/american_dream.html
www.editionstextuel.com/
