From October 19 through November 18, 2017, a selection of unpublished contact sheet excerpted from the magazine Paris Match’s archives are being exhibited at Galerie Argentic. These sheets, carefully preserved in the magazine’s vault, were selected among tens of thousands by Marc Brincourt, photo editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine. There are, in total, six star photographers from the golden age of Paris Match who were chosen for the aesthetic quality of their work and for their roles as key informants: Walter Carone, Maurice Jarnoux, François Pages, Jack Garofalo, Michou Simon and Patrice Habans.
At the time, these photographers were made part of an intimate entourage of the biggest stars and were present at every event. This exhibition brings us, for the first time, right on their coattails, behind the scenes of their careers. Each contact sheet is shown accompanied by the photo selected by the editorial team of the time. All the prints exhibited were made in film from original negatives. The contact sheet, thus, becomes a masterpiece, a testimony of the before and after of each event.
“Studying a contact sheet, it’s like doing an autopsy of the artist,” explains Agnès Vergez, Paris Match’s Director of Exhibitions. “Some of them, like William Klein, made a full-fledged art out of it; others, like Henri Cartier Bresson, refused to show them. In the archives of Paris Match, these sheets continue to speak to us about the history of the world and its photo-reporters. Here is a selection we’re excited about…”
Paris Match / Planches-Contacts
October 19 through November 18, 2017
Galerie Argentic
43 rue Daubenton
75005 Paris
France
http://www.argentic.fr/
