Marion Gronier, 36, is a young Parisian photographer. We covered her work on child beauty pageants in the early days of Le Journal. Today, Gronier has just concluded her residency with the Musée Nicéphore Niépce de Chalon-sur-Saône in partnership with BMW. Like the photographer who preceded her, Alexandra Catière, Gronier spent three months in the heart of Burgundy working on a series that will be on view at the next Rencontres d’Arles and Paris Photo 2013.
Under the direction of the museum’s curator, François Cheval, and with the assistance of its lab team, Gronier produced a series of color portraits of traveling circus performers touring Chalon-sur-Saône and its surroundings. The frontal portraits were taken immediately after the acrobats, dancers, trainers and tamers had finished their acts. The photographs were shot in the tumultuous backstage atmosphere. Gronier admitted that working in these conditions wasn’t easy. Nor was it simple to break into the close-knit circle of the circus. No one smiles in these images saturated by the colorful costumes. Their piercing and concentrated eyes strike and disturb us.
Following I am your Fantasy, mother/daughter diptychs from child beauty pageants; Noir Sang, portraits of non-nomadic gypsies; and Herbes Flottantes , which brings together several series of actors’ portraits taken in Asia, Gronier once again offers an impressive gallery of portraits.
The call for applications for the 2013 residency has already opened.
Download the application and learn more about the residency . The winner will receive a grant of 6000€, free accommodation in Chalon-sur-Saône, access to a state-of-the-art photo lab, and exhibitions at the Rencontres d’Arles, at Paris Photo and the BMW Museum in Munich.
The application deadline is March 11, 2013.
