The Jeu de Paume Chateau de Tours is presenting almost 150 colour prints by Robert Capa for the first time in France. Considered to be one of the greatest photojournalists of the 20th century for his work in black and white, he worked in colour from 1941 until his death in 1954. After the Second World War he usually went on assignment with two cameras, one loaded with black and white film, the other with colour.
From the opening of the box marked “Capa colour” to this exhibition, Cynthia Young (conservator of the Robert Capa archives and curator of the exhibition) has done extensive and ambitious work in research, editing and presentation. Here she delivers to us, through Robert Capa’s personal documents, contemporary magazines and a chronological selection of photographs, a second life of the photographer “He chose to re-invent himself and begin a new life, for that he used colour!”
While the framing and the “reportage” line are as distinctive as ever, we discover what is, in effect, another man. His colour begins during the Second World War and quickly becomes the fresh air of the post-war. From room to room we feel a softness, a photographic elegance that easily adds to the depth of the photographer. It links his assignments across the world, photography on film set, fashion, portraits, winter sports.
Colour changes things in the photographer’s eye: it is not only the moment and/or the action, the event, it has become for Capa another pursuit, to take time. Besides, he does not have any choice, the colour films are slow and need a lot of light to capture things. Enter the modern age, think about the relationship between colour/shadow/light, look for the aesthetics as in the superb reflection of the Swiss mountains in the sunglasses of the American Judith Stanton during winter sports.
The staging is careful and museum-like. The photographs shown on white walls, exposed beams, the exhibition follows the architecture of the chateau. There are no unnecessary large formats and the three chronological periods put forward by Cynthia Young offer educational and intimate proceedings to the photographer. The work on the colours of the Ektachromes is not uniform, the pigments have not resisted the passage of time and digitisation was necessary: the characteristics of some of the images are a little exaggerated. The colours of the Kodachromes are still there and we feel a real link between them and the prints, particularly the magnificent blue. We move to the rhythm of the 8 rooms, a documentary on the photographer and an educational space for schoolchildren that opens up the possibility of much debate.
The third period covers the last trip to Indo-China. Like any self-respecting photographer, “we can’t do it again”, but the pull is stronger than everything and Robert Capa returns to war, to the heart of the action. He loses the colour of his life on 25th May 1954 by stepping on an anti-personnel mine.
EXHIBITION
Robert Capa et la couleur
From November 21st 2015 to May 29th 2016
Jeu de Paume – Château de Tours
25 avenue André Malraux
37000 Tours
France
Tuesday – Sunday 2pm – 6pm
http://www.jeudepaume.org
