The monumental façade of La Samaritaine rising above the Pont neuf is an eternal symbol of Paris, and it has been immortalised by some of the great names in twentieth-century photography, including Eugène Boubat, Willy Ronis and Brassaï. La Samaritaine is carrying on this tradition by supporting the work of young photographers whose wide-ranging visions and means of expression offer a window onto the identity of a neighbourhood.
For the second year in a row, we have given ten young photographers – all of them students or graduates of the Ecole des Beaux-arts de Paris, in the vicinity of La Samaritaine – carte blanche. This year, we asked them to step out of the building itself and create a set of works about the surrounding district, in the very heart of Paris. it is an area steeped and layered in history, but it is also a district in transition, awaiting the reawakening of La Samaritaine to build its future.
The result? Ten unique journeys, ten sometimes surprising visions of compelling originality.
after the success of the 2013 edition, “Ma Samaritaine 2014” allows viewers to rediscover the Samaritaine district through the works on display. as in the previous year, local residents, passers-by and those passionate about photography can view them at a popup gallery at 67/73 rue de rivoli.
Jean-Jacques Guiony
Chairman of La Samaritaine
Carte blanche for 10 young photographers
Ten photographers, all of them students or graduates of the Ecole nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts de Paris on Paris’s Left Bank, directly across from La Samaritaine’s flagship building.
in contrast to the previous year, this group did not document, explore, and let their imaginations run wild within La Samaritaine, but instead were given free rein to explore the district that surrounds it. Bounded by the rue de rivoli, the Seine, the Louvre and the Place du Châtelet, it is a complex urban zone, difficult to define and destined, as we know, to be transformed by – among other projects – the future Samaritaine department store.
These young men and women carried out their work, comparing their investigations into their chosen means of expression with the reality on the ground, and attempting to define both their practice and their tools.
They invented journeys, and selected a variety of viewpoints, each with its own logic. They questioned the very meaning of black and white, practiced the use of colour somewhere between painting and realism, introduced narratives, took stances that ranged from the poetic to the more inventory-oriented, investigated the store’s history and invoked the district’s current residents. in every case, however, they insisted on a precise project and developed a specific approach.
although these conceptual approaches were quite pronounced, they were far from austere. They concealed surprises, emotions and feelings, and drew us into visions that we could not grasp as mere passers-by. Each participant’s project sketched the outlines of a possible district that did not exist outside of their own subjective view – and perhaps never will exist.
Placed side by side, these ten contemporary visions also spur the viewer to question what photography is and the role it can play in a world constantly criss-crossed by billions of images. One purpose it can serve is to slow the flow, to allow us to take time and to discover. To see, inasmuch that is still possible.
Christian Caujolle
Curator of the exhibition “Ma Samaritaine 2014”
EXHIBITION
Ma Samaritaine 2014
October 18th – December 21st 2014
Curated by Christian Caujolle
67-73 rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris
France
