par Thierry Maindrault
Ten years since our photographic universe lost one of its most illustrious champions.
Firstly, Lucien was undoubtedly a very talented photographer, he was part of a tight circle of very great talents. This is not a matter of toadyism, which he would find very inappropriate. But a fact that the future will confirm. As with a large part of his images. Why this statement? First, because his photographs are very well done, the content and the form are in perfect coherence, the catalysts of emotions come from the very conception of the images and not from the subjects (even if these are perfectly valorised by his shots). This ethereal fluid came from the creative inspiration from Lucien. His life as a light catcher never lacked this exaltation.
But all this is nothing extraordinary, it is the essential minimum for great photographers who stand out from the crowd. So the extra that made him an excellent photographer, where was it? Where is it still found today? In his photographs which will survive him as long as human thought wills. In many of Lucien’s works, as with the great “pictorialists”, there is another image to perceive behind the photograph. The magic of a story, of a message, of a beauty hidden behind the visible image. The birth of an intimate feeling for the reader which builds, if the latter gives himself the time necessary to interact with the image before his eyes. There are few giants in photography, generally recognized post mortem, who leave behind their works this other thing which makes a difference.
I am in no way imposing Lucien’s panegyric on you, but let’s be serious, I won’t say anything bad about those that passed away either: and then, what’s more, I’m not sure that he’s really gone. There must be something malicious lying in wait for us. Are we wary? One Lucien Clergue often hides another.
Lucien, a big, sincere and genuine thank you from the entire photographic community, even from the few members who didn’t really appreciate you. People who achieve their dreams and realize their passions always leave a little jealousy and enmity behind. But, everyone comes together to say thank you for what your turbulence, your nerve, your enthusiasm and your passions have done for the photographic world.
Regarding the launch of the recognition of certain photographs as works of Art, you have usefully stepped on the accelerator a little. However, I think that the time logically arrived, for the admirable works of some of our ancestors, to see their entry into the pantheon of muses. In one or two of your logical visions, you were able to accelerate this already inevitable trend.
The greatest gratitude is for this spirit that you initiated, that you shared, that you multiplied and that you breathed, urbi et orbi. The power of the spirits, so important in a photograph, assembled over a few days to make our work and our creations shine with light. Our generations had met Monsieur Corneille at school, which is why, in the city of Arles, a handful of you left and there are now a few thousand of us wandering there with the look of a photographer.
You won’t blame me for choosing the sequence from your testament of the sea, by Bernard Gille, in his superb video testimony, to illustrate these modest lines. You evoke so well your own idea about photography and that of those who share this crazy passion. Let us hope that your words do not become, as they are becoming, a mirage orchestrated by other ambitions.
Let the idea of forgetting pass its way for all our friends, those already up there and those still with us.
Thierry Maindrault
