J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is a seminal work about adolescence. The narrator, Holden Caulfield, plagued with doubts about adulthood, takes refuge in dreamlike conversations with his little sister, bluntly sharing with the reader his fragile emotional world.
The same could be said of the photographs compiled by Gilles Verneret. They are classics of the genre, beginning with Marion Poussier’s summer camp series, Un Eté. The photographs are soaked through with the photographer’s personal experience. Apparently insignificant moments become defining moments. There’s the same paradoxical mixture of unwarranted confidence with modesty and discomfort that we find in Salinger’s hero, the attempts to pass for an adult betrayed by clumsy adolescence. What makes these moments crucial is their naive emotional intensity. The short camps holidays are perfect for awkward first kisses and friendships we swear will last forever.
The work of Nicolas Savary, Yvelyne Loiseur and Marie-Noelle Boutin explore the places and settings in which adolescents grow up: in the family, in school, and in their own imaginations. Together, these four series complement each other, accurately reflecting the tenderness and complexity of this delicate age of transition.
Laurence Cornet
“Adolescences critiques 1”
Marion Poussier, Nicolas Savary, Yvelyne Loiseur, Marie-Noelle Boutin
Until April 13th, 2013
Le bleu du ciel
12, rue des fantasques
69001 Lyon
France
T. +33 (0)4 72 07 84 31
