The Musée National de la Marine is revealing the work of a major figure in contemporary photography: Jean Gaumy. Through nearly 150 photographs, some of which have never been shown to the general public before, this first major exhibition of Jean Gaumy’s maritime photographs reveals how the photographer captures, with rare intensity, maritime themes as diverse as fishing, the open sea, the trauma of oil spills, the closed world of submarines, and polar exploration.
Jean Gaumy’s photographs play on several registers. The most obvious is that of documentary photography. Jean Gaumy began his career at the Viva agency, where the figure of Claude Raimond-Dityvon (1937-2008) made an impression on him. Then, at the invitation of Raymond Depardon, he joined the Gamma agency in 1973, before joining Magnum Photos in 1977. The pace imposed by current events hardly suited the photographer, who was more sensitive to human closed-door situations, which he photographed during long-term investigations. He thus became interested in hospitals (1975-1976), prisons (1976-1979), and then Iran in the 1980s. It is with the same approach that he photographed fishing communities around the world.
Jean Gaumy et la mer
Until August 17, 2025
Musée National de la Marine
Palais de Chaillot
Accès 17 place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre, 75016 Paris
Métro : Trocadéro (9, 6)
Tel : 01 53 65 69 69
Bus : n°22, 30, 32, 63 www.musee-marine.fr
